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OR, 



THE PEOPLE THEIR 01 PHYSICIANS 



BY THE USE OP 



NATURE'S REMEDIES; 

SHOWING THE GREAT CURATIVE PROPERTIES OF 

All Herbs, Gams, Balsams, Barks, Flowers and Roots ; how they should 
be prepared ; when and under what influences selected ; at what 
times gathered ; and for what Diseases administered. Also, 
Separate Treatises on Food and Drinks ; Clothing, Exer- 
cise, The Regulation of the Passions ; Life, Health, 
and Disease ; Longevity ; Medication ; Air and 
Sunshine? Bathing; Sleep, etc. Also, 



SYMPTOMS OF PREVALENT DISEASES 

SPECIAL TREATMENT IN SPECIAL CASES; 



AND A 



NEW AND PLAIN SYSTEM OF HYGIENIC PRINCIPLES, 
By DR. 6. PHELPS BROWN. 



PRICE, TWO DOLLARS. 



JERSEY CITY, N. J. 
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 

1865. 



^c 

# 

^s* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18G5, by 

DR. 0. PHELPS BROWN, 

In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, 
in and for the District of New-Jersey. 



A BRIEF HISTORY OP MEDICINE. 



In presenting this work on Crude Organic Remedies — the 
Constituents of Plants — and their Officinal Preparations — I 
do not propose to " run a tilt " against any of the systems of 
Medical Practice, however much some of them may be 
opposed to common sense and reason, and to the Divine ordinan- 
ces of Nature ; nor shall I treat with contempt the teachings 
and practices of great and wonderful nimes, or oppose the pride, 
interest, expectation, and conscientious convictions of a learned, 
honorable and influential profession ; my object is simply to 
present many new and curious, if not startling facts, not only 
well worthy of the earnest consideration of the more intelligent 
portion of the community, who demand reasons the most pro- 
found, to lead them to convictiou of a Truth, but of the great 
mass of humbler people, who desire, amid all the great Reforms 
in human society, above all things to secure a "sound mind in 
a Bound body" and to feel something of that exalted state of 
happiness which alone can rise from the possession of the most 
robust and rubicund physical and moral Health. 

It must be palpable to every thinking mind, that Therapeu- 
tical and Pharmaceutical science, is the very foundation of the 
"Healing Art Divine." In the language of Holy Writ, 
44 The Lord has created medicine out of the earlh t and he that 
is vrise will not abhor them? 

" Yea happy he that can the knowledge gain, 
To know the Eternal God made nought in vain." 



4 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

The use of medicine is no doubt coincident with the History 
of the Hum m Race ; but writers generally agree that medicine 
first been me a profession among the Egyptians. The priests of 
the earlier nations were the practitioners of the Healing Art, 
but it does not seem that women were excluded from the right 
of administering medicine for the purpose of healing the sick, 
since mention is made of a certain Queen Isis, who became 
greatly celebrated among them, and was worshipped as a 
" Goddess of Health." Although the practitioners among the 
Egyptians, Assyrians and Jews, were in the habit of employing 
incantations, which, of course, produced their good and bad im- 
pressions through the medium of the imagination, yet their effi- 
ciency in curing diseases was due mainly to their knowledge of 
the medical virtues of many of the vegetable products of Nature. 
They seemed to look up as high as the stars to know the reason 
of the operation of the Herbs in the various affections of the 
human race. 

Among the Greeks, Hippocrates first caused medicine to be 
regarded as a science, while Esculapius was the first who 
made medicine an exclusive study and practice. His sons Mac- 
haon, and Podalarius are celebrated in Homer's "Iliad," for their 
medical skill, as surgeons in the Greek armies, or during the 
Trojan war. Two daughters, also, of Escui ipias, Panakeia and 
Hygeia, were no less distinguished than their renowned 
brothers ; the latter being the inventor of many valuable herbal 
prep .rations, whose success in curing diseases, won for her, as 
in the case of Queen Isis of Egypt, the proud honor and deifi- 
cation of the Greeks as an especial " Goddess op Health." We 
have no knowledge that Esculapias, or his immediate followers 
ever conceived the idea of curing disease by drug or mineral 
preparations. Ablutions, bandages, fomentations, ointments, 
etc., were administered externally, and preparations of aromatic 
herbs, roots, flowers, balms, gums, etc., constituted their whole 
materia medica for all internal ailments. 

The next most prominent medical practitioner after Escula- 
pias and his immediate descendeuts, was Hippocrates, the " Co- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 5 

an Sage/* who being one of the most sagacious, observing and 
industrious men that ever lived, was entitled the " Father of 
Medicine, ." He travelled much in foreign countries, devoting 
himself with untiring energy to the study and practice of medi- 
cine. His writings were numerous, and even to this day, his 
doctrines are expensively recognized, His practice was consist- 
ently founded on the phenomena cf Nature, as exhibited in hu- 
man beings during health and disease. His materia medica was 
derived wholly from the vegetable kingdom. His internal 
remedies were, purgatives, sudorifies, diuretics, and i jections, 
while his external were ointments, piasters, liniments, etc. The 
great principle Which directed all his operations was the sup- 
posed operations of Nature, in superintending and regulating 
all the actions of the system. This mode of practice had the 
good effect, of enabling the practitioner to make himself well 
acquainted with all the phenomena, of disease, and thus to 
diagnose most correctly, and to meet the varied indications, by 
the administration of some herbal remedy, which would induce 
the crisis requisite to the removal of disease and restoration to 
sound or vigorous health. 

About three hundred years before the Christian era, the Pto- 
lemies founded a medical school in Al xaadria, Egypt. The 
most famous of the prof ssors were Erasistratqs, and Herophi- 
lus, who dissected the bodies of crimiu ils obtained from g >vern- 
ment. They opposed bleeding and violent remedies, iru-ting 
more to nature than to art. Herophilus paid p trticular atten- 
tion to the action of the heart, and was the first to give any 
thing like an accurate description of the various kiuds of 
pulse. 

We pass over the days of the Dogmatics and E npiri -s, the 
Pneumatics and other sects of medical practitioners, (who, 
though they employed herbal remedies as a general rule, were 
strangely given to the promulgations of theories and doctrines 
utterly at viriance with the most ordinary ratiocinations of 
Philosophy and Reason,) until we come to the period when 
Galen first made his appearance at the request of the Emperor 



6 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Aurelias. Galen was a native of Pergnmus, having traveled 
much, and written largely on subjects directly or indirectly con- 
nected with medicine, before settling himself at Rome. He was 
entirely independent in his opinions, paid very little respect to 
authority, and so great was his learning and wisdom, and rare 
skill in medicine, that he came to be regarded by many as an 
'* Oracle." Thoroughly educated in all the schools of philosophy, 
he selected from them all except the Epicurian, which he totdly 
rejected. His treatment of disease was principally by Herbal 
remedies. From Galen have sprung ihe sect that is now gener- 
ally know as Eclectics, who do not confine remedies exclusively 
to the herbal practice, but employ many of the mineral substau- 
ces upon which the Allopathatic and Homoepathic systems of 
medicine of the present day are based. 

About the middle of the seventeenth century, on the death 
of Paulus, the Greek school of medicine terminated, the Arabi- 
ans having conquered a large poriionof the semi-civilized world, 
and destroyed an immense Akx.ndrian library. The Arabian 
physicians soon adopted the opinions of Galen, but owing to the 
invention of chemistry, it was speedily made subservient to med- 
icine. They produced medical works, some of w.ich have 
enjoyed great celebrity, without having really added anything 
substantial to medical science as previously understood. Witil 
Averroes terminated the Arabic or Saracenic School of medi- 
cine, the great reputation of whi^h is mainly owing to the cir- 
cumstauce, that from the eighth to the twelfth centuries, when 
all Europe was sunk iu deep barbarism, the principal remains of a 
taste for literature and science existed among the Moors and 
Arabs. The physicians added many vegetable products, 
and a few metallic and oxides in the catalogue of remedies. 
From the employment of chemical and mineral remedies by the 
Arabian physicims may be dated the disastrous consequences 
of medic d science, that was subsequently inaugurated by that 
Prince of Quacks — Paracelsus 

After the Arabians, from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, 
the practice of medicine was chiefly confined to the hands of 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 7 

the priests, who being men of great learning and followers of 
Esculapius, Hippocrates and Galen, (all believers in the science 
of planetary influences upon the herbal productions of the earth) 
did much to perfect what has since been known as " Astral 
physic," and to base it upon principles as insurmountable and 
eternal as God and Nature, notwithstanding the futile attempts 
of modern physicians to laugh and jeer it down, as drawn from 
the magical arts and astrological superstitions of a " monkish 
age." It is very true that chemistry, or rather alchemy, was 
prosecuted with much ardor with a view to discovering a meth- 
ed of transmuting the baser metals into gold, yet with all their 
" knavery and folly," they religiously discarded mineral medica- 
tion, and relied almost wholly upon an herbal or vegetable 
materia medica in the treatment of all forms of physical and 
mental diseases. 

The European feudal system was at length greatly shaken 
by the Crusades. Mahomet the second, about the middle of 
the fifteenth century, captured Constantinople, and soon after 
the ruin of the Byzantine empire, the Reformation occurred, and 
about the same time the art of printing was invented. These 
events gave a powerful impulse to the world of mind, and re- 
awakened investigation into all the departments of science, liter- 
ature and the arts ; but, although many works were written, 
very few facts were gleaned concerning the physiological, an- 
atomical and pathological phenomena, incident to the Structure, 
Health and Disease of the human being. 

The alchemic ?»rt, however, was at length transferred from 
Arabia into European countries, and medical chairs were 
established in various Universities on the continent during 
the thirteenth century, and finally, Linaire, who had been edu- 
cated at Oxford, and having travelled in Italy, and spent some 
time at the court of Florence, returned to England, and succeed- 
ed in founding medical professorships at Oxford and Cambridge, 
frum which circumstance was laid the foundation of the London 
College of Physicians. Thus chemistry, after having been 
employed in various pharmaceutical processes, was applied to 



8 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

physiology, pathology and therapeutics. The chemical doctors 
were very wild and extravagant in advancing unnatural theo- 
ries ; but they had an ever present champion in the name of 
Galen, who was well entitled to be called the " Prince of Medi- 
cal Philosophers " He was a philosopher — a natural philoso- 
pher ; for he studied Nature closely, deeply, profoundly, and 
deduced his indications of cure from an accurate observation of 
her laws. His system, however, was destined to be utterly 
overthrown by an adventurous vagrant, whose quackery never 
had its equal on earth. This impudent and unprincipled char- 
latan was none other than Paracelsus, to whom the medical 
world is more indebted for the mineral drugging system than 
to all other physicians who have ever lived. He introduced 
the mercurial and antimonial practice, which still consti- 
tutes the great strength of the popular materia medica 
of the day, and which also continues to exhibit its terribly 
devastating power on all human constitutions that comes 
under its sway or influence. In the fullness of his pride, 
pomp, and arrogance, Paracelsus burned, with great solemnity, 
the works of Galen and Avicenna, declaring that he had found 
the philosopher's stone, and that mankind had no further use for 
the medical works ot others. He lived a dissip tted vagabond, 
and died prematurely at the age of forty-eight, his famous elixir 
vitae having failed to save him from a most horrible fate. Still 
his abominable doctrines prevailed, and his infatuated followers 
have added several hundred other chemical or mineral prepara- 
tions to the materia medica of the great Qiick S.lver Quack. — 
At the present day, among a certain class of physicians, there 
is hardly a disease in the catalogue of human ailments in which 
the employment of mercury, antimony, arsenic, and other 
deadly drugs is not employed. 

During the seventeenth century, the doctrines of Hippo- 
crates again rose to some consideration in medical philosophy. 
Anatomy made progress. Harvey discovered the circulation 
of the blood; others traced out the absorbent system and ex- 
plained the functions and structure of the lungs ; while 



MB COMPLETE HERBALIST. 9 

Boyle disengaged chemistry from the mystery by which it wns 
surrounded, and explained its true province to be, " not the 
manufacture of solid gold, nor liquid nostrums, nor gaseous 
theories, but an investigation into the change of properties 
which bodies experience In their action upon each other." 

From this time to the beginning of the eighteenth century, 
notwithstanding many facts had accumula'ed in chemistry, an- 
atomy »»nd physiology, physicians, as a body, held no more 
natural views of the true nature of disease, than were advanced 
by Hippocrates three thousand years before. Indeed, it is pos- 
itively certain that none of the most eminent new schools or 
sects of the present day, have been more successful in curing 
diseases than were Hippocrates, G len, and Sydenham. Mean- 
time, however, there have arisen physicians, who, while they 
readily received ail new facts in respect to the structure of the hu- 
man organism, still adhered to the instinctive inductions of 
Nature, and treated diseases with most abundant success by 
means of Herbal preparations alone. We have at this day as 
bright a galaxy of names— scholars, philosophers,philanthropLsts 
and humanitarians as ever adorned any age of the world, devot- 
ing themselves with a zeal and industry worthy of all praise to 
the study and practice of medicine, but failing to perceive the 
grand results anticipated in their laborious researches after 
truth, do not hesitate to admit that our actual information does 
not increase in any degree, in proportion to our experience. 
All their array of learning, and their multitudinous writings, have 
only served to make confusion worse confounded, and all from 
the very simple fact that they have neglected to follow the re- 
quirements of nature and common sense, in maintaining the 
Herbal Practice as the only true and philosophical foundation 
of the Healing Art. Amidst all the jarrings, conflicts and 
dogmas of the medical world, is it any wonder that the great 
masses are rapidly losing all confidence in Medical Science, and 
crying for a more natural system of medication — even one 
founded in the principles of irrefragable Nature ? With this 
view, 1 have devoted many years of my life, and having travelled 

1* 



10 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

in numerous lands, I feel that I am now qualified, from a long 
medical experience and deep research into the physiology of 
Plants, to present to the world of suffering humanity, all those 
curative elements best calculated to ensure perfect health and 
the utmost length of life to all who may feel disposed to be guid- 
ed by the doctrines and system of medication, which it is the ob- 
ject of this volume to make known. The Herbal Practice will 
be as unsuccessful as all other systems, if the strictest rules 
are not followed as to the time of gathering, curing, or prepar- 
ing the Plants or Heibs, agreeably to the Laws of Nature or 
planetary influences* 



HERBAL MEDICATION. 



SHOWING THE PLANETARY AND CLIMATIC 
INFLUENCE UPON THE HERBAL KINGDOM. 



In the foregoing pages, we have seen, that from the earliest 
period in the history of the human race, to the present time, 
the administration of the juices and essences of Herbs and 
Plants, in all forms of disease, has ever been considered by ju- 
dicious and philosophical minds, as the most rational and natural 
means of relieving the organism of all abnormal obstructions 
and derangements, and restoring all the functions to their origi- 
nal or primitive vigor and healthful working. Notwithstanding 
the innovations of the mineral practice, I have ever held most 
rigidly to the Hsrbal System of medication, but having failed 
to meet with the success reasonably anticipated by pursuing the 
ordinary routine of Therapeutics, I was finally led to reject the 
many changes in medical doctrines and practice, and start forth 
on a path of investigation of my own, into the mysteries of the 
mineral and vegetable Kingdoms, especially as they might bear 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 11 

upon the health and happiness of the human being ; according- 
ly, I set out on extensive travels in nearly all parts of the globe 
in all latitudes, at all seasons, and in all climes — in search of 
the best specific means for the healing of the maladies of man- 
kind. The results of these researches, since confirmed by many 
years successful medical experience based upon them, have but 
the more strongly strengthened my opposition to the use of 
all the mineral preparations of the modern schools of medicine, 
and to establish ray faith all the more firmly in the employment 
of herbal elements exclusively — whether in the materia of roots, 
barks, seeds, or flowers — as the surest and safest means for 
the thorough eradication of every form of disease incident to 
the human body. 

In saying all this, however, I do not deny the fact that many 
mineral substances enter into the composition of the human be- 
ing, and are necessary for his full health and perfection — as 
chalk or lime is requisite to form bone, iron to enrich or strength- 
en the blood, and other mineral substances for the formation of 
the tissues, as phosphorus for the tissues of the brain and nerves f 
etc. — but I stoutly contend that all such inorganic substances 
are taken up by plants and distributed to the various tissues 
and elements of the human being, either in the way of food or 
medicine, in exacily the precise quantity requisite for man's 
perfect health, if rightly used, neither in excess nor diminution, 
agreeably to the laws of nature : and their virtues are thus 
prepared and eliminated in a way far superior to any chemical 
manipulation ever conceived or known to man, with ail the ele- 
ments of chemical science at his command. 

Hav.ng philosophized, and finally realized that the entire 
Universe was composed of contrary elements — of negative and 
positive principles — yet that the whole worked, or acted, in 
the most perfect harmony, agreeably to the wisdom of a Great 
First Cause, when such elements were not disarranged or dis- 
turbed by any violation of the laws of pristine Nature, I was 
soon led to a logical deduction of the general laws which govern 
the virtues or medicinal properties of all the varieties of plants, 



12 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

with n view to employ them as remedial agents in the core of 
disease. In a word, I found in the being, man, an epitome of 
all creation — found in his organism all the elements of univer- 
sal nature — aud necessarily discerned, that, as there are Sum- 
mer and Winter, night and day, in regular and systematic 
succession, such alternations of n.ttare could not but have the 
most important influences in respect to the health and diseases 
of the human being — Heaven's last, most perfect work. I 
realized that in accordance with the various operations of 
nature, man remained in health, or became afflicted with 
disease. Hence, it became necessary for me to fully under- 
stand or comprehend the cause of any departure from ihe normal 
or natural condition of man, and to provide the cure, or 
the remedy best adapted for the restoration of the equilibrium 
of the functions of his entire organism. 

The admirable harmony of creation, as seen in the revolu- 
tions of the planets, showed how one part of the universe 
was subservient, to, or dependent upon another part of creation ; 
and this being the fact, it was easy to comprehend that the 
Planetary Sydem had certain peculiar, fixed influences, not 
only upon herbs, but, through their qualities as food or medicine, 
upon the body of man. 

No man of sense will deny that the Moon has a certain influ- 
ence over the waters of the Earth — causing the ebb and flow 
of tides — nor will it be questioned among practical agricultural- 
ists, at least, that the Moon has some special or potent power, 
in the success or failure of crops, etc. 

If such be the truth, as it undoubtedly is, in regard to the 
influence of the Moon upon the aqueous and herbal, or veg- 
etable organisms, it is not at all unreasonable to suppose 
that every sar and every planet has some governing action 
over the actions, temperaments, idiosyncracies, health and dis- 
ease of the human being, through the medium of the plants 
which supply him the very best of healing medicines. 

The physicians of the olden time — including Escu'faphis, Hip- 
pocrates, Galen, etc.— of Arabia, Greece and Rome, as well as 



THE (COMPLETE HERBALIST. 13 

many snges and learned men of more modern times, as Lord 
Bacon, Sir l>aac Newton, and others, all believed iu what was 
originally called "Astral Physic;" and contended that ihe 
anatomy of the human body was governed by the twelve con- 
stellations. In other words, they believed that the planet 
Aries or ram, presided over the head and face of man ; Taurus 
or the bull, over the neck ; Gemina, or the twins, over the 
arms; Cancer or crab fish, over the breast; Leo, or the lion, 
over the heart; Virgo or virgin, over the bowels; Libra or 
the balance, over the reins or loins ; Scorpio or scorpion, over 
the secrets ; Sagittarius or bowman, over the thighs; Aquarius 
or waterman, over the legs ; Capricornus or goat, over the 
knees ; and Pisces or the fishes, over the feet. 

Caudid and reflecting minds must admit the truth .of these no- 
tions of the ancients, while the lights of modern science fully sup- 
port the hypothesis of planetary influences upon the human organ- 
ism, inducing Rheumatism, Neuralgia, and other nervous and 
muscular diseases, as well as visceral derangements, according 
as electrical, atmospherical, or other phenomena are concomi- 
tants of, or governed by, sidereal ov meteorological conditions of 
our globe, iu its revolutions in universal space, or amid the 
illimitable range of the starry hosts and planets. Indeed* in 
m my scientific works, we find engravings representing the plan- 
ets ruling over the various members of the body of man, white 
these emblems or signs continue to be used, as designating the 
proper time to plant seed and reap the harvests, etc., among the 
yeomanry of all lands. 

That there are planetary influences prevailing over all of the 
Herbal Kingdom, cannot be questioned. It is this same plan- 
etary or atmospheric influence which occasions the closing of 
the leaves over the extreme point of the young shoot at night, 
as may be observed in the chick-weed, and several other com- 
mon plants. The folding of some flowers iu the absence of the 
sun, and the opening of others as soon as that luminary has 
withdrawn his beams, are ascribable to a similar cause. The 
white marygold closes its flowers on the approach of rain, and 



14 THE COMPLETE HEUBALTST* 

the dwarf Golendrina folds up its bright crimson corolla about 
four o'clock every afternoon ; while, on the contrary, the plant 
commonly called Four o'clock, whose flower remains closed all 
day, opens precisely at the hour of four. The evening Primrose will 
not open its large yellow flower till the sun has sunk below 
the horizon. On the other hand, the Sun-flower is always seen 
bending its face (vis-a vis) in the direction of the sun, and fol- 
lows its course during the entire diurnal round, from its rise in 
the Orient, or East, in the morning, to its decline in the Hes- 
perian region, or West,in the evening. The Night-blowing Cereus 
only expands its flowers about midnight* Indeed, some flow- 
ers are so regular in their opening or shutting, that the preat 
Botanist, Linnaeus, formed what he called " Flora's Time 
Piece" iu which each hour was represented by the flower which 
o ened or closed at that particular time. Tims, trago fogon 
prateus opens from three to five ; papaver medicaule, at five ; 
hypochaeris maculata, at six ; nyonphoea alba, at seven ; ana- 
gollis avemis, at eight ; calendula avernes, at nine ; areuaria t 
nine to ten ; and mesembry anthemum, at eleven. Solar light 
is no doubt the principal cause in producing these phenomena ; 
yet the influence of other planets are perhaps more potent in 
their direct influence. Beside the cases in which flowers open 
and shut their corollas by the influence of light, instances are 
known in which merely the petals roll up by day, and resume 
their natural shape after sunset A remarkable circumstance 
respecting the effect of atmospheric influence, is, that the same 
causes do not affect all plants, and yet no peculiarity or construc- 
tion has been discovered in those so affected to distinguish them 
from those that are uot. This simple fact alone is sufficient to 
prove that there is not a plant or tree growing on earth that is 
not in more or less degree, under the influence or government 
of some especial Planet, Star, or Constellation, or some sign of 
the Zodiac* 

The sleep of plants, a very remarkable phenomena, must be 
due to planetary influences. Even the irritability of many of 
them can be readilv traced to the same cause by a rational 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 



15 





mind. In many instances, there seems to be a striking affinity 

between the herbal and animal kingdom, and other instances 

of the repelling character. For instance, a most remarkable 

instance of irritability by contact, is that exhibited by the 

' Venus' Fly Trap/ Dioncea muscipula, a 

native of Canada, and nearly allied to 

the common "Sun-Dew," of the British 

commons. Its flowers have nothing re* 

markable about them, except that their 

petals roll np when they are about to 

decay ; but the leaves are very curiously 

constructed. They have broad leaf-like 

petioles, at whose extremity there are 

two fleshy tubes, which form the real 

leaf, and which are armed with strong, sharp spines, three on 

the blade of each lobe, and a fringe of larger spines round the 

margin. (See figure 1 ) 

When au insect touches the base of the central spines, the 
leaf collapses, and the poor insect is caught, being either im- 
paled by the central spines, or entrapped by the others. The 
leaf then remains closed, the fringe of long spines being firmly 
interlaced and locked together, till the body of the insect has 
wasted away. This apparatus being the nearest approach to 
a stomach which has yet been observed in plants, an experiment 
was tried some years ago of feeding a dioncea (Venus' Fly 
Trap) with very small particles of raw meat, when it was 
found that the leaves closed in the same way as they would 
have done over an insect, and did not open again until the 
meat wa3 consumed. This plant is under the dominion of 
Mercury, and it is a curious fact, that its leaves possess medical 
properties, which, when properly prepared iu tincture or decoc- 
tion, have been found of exceeding efficacy in many diseases 
of the digestive organs of the human being. 

Saracenia, or Side-Saddle flower, the leaves of which are 
pitcher-shaped, resembling an old-fashioned side-saddle, six of 
which generally belong to each plant* Each of these pitchers 



16 



ME COMPLETE fcEfcBAtlST. 



will hold nearly a wineglass full, and are generally filled with 
Water and aquatics, which undergo decomposition, or a sort of 
digestion, and serve as a nutriment to the PI int. It is a 
plant of the Moon, and an infusion of both its leaves and roots 
is stimulating, tonical, diuretic, and laxative, and thus very 
useful in dyspepsia and other gastric derangements, chlorosis 
and all uterine derangements. This same peculiarity belongs to 
ali plants having pitcher-shaped leaves. (See fig. 2, page 15.) 

Prom long experience and observa- 
tion, I have found that any plant bear- 
ing any resemblance to any portion of 
'the human frame, is a specific for the 
diseases of the member or organ to which 
it resembles. For instance, herbs that 
simulate the shape of the Lungs, as 
Lungwort, (See figure adjoining,) Sage, 
Hounds-tongne and Comfrey, are all 
good for pulmonary complaints. 

Plants which bear in leaves and roots a heart-Uke form, as 
Citron Apple, Fuller's Thistle, SpikenarJ, Balm, Mint, White- 
beat, Parsley and Motherwort, will yield medical properties 
congenial to that organ. Vegetable productions like in figure 
to the ears, as the leaves of the Coltfoot or Wild Spikenard, 
rightly prepared as a conserve and eaten, improve the hearing 
and memory, while oil extracted from the shells of sea-snails, 
which have the turnings and curvings of the ears, tends won- 
derfully to the cure of deafness. A decoction of Maiden 
Hair and the moss of Quinces, which plants resemble the 
hairs of the head, is gcod for baldness. Plants resemb- 
ling tiie human nose, as the leaves of the Wild Water Mint, 
are beneficial in iestoring the sense of smell. Plants having 
a semblance of the Womb, as Birthwort, Heart Wort, Ladies' 
Seal or Birony, conduce much to a safe accouchement. Shrubs 
and Herbs resembling the bladder and gall, as Ni-ht-shade and 









ZTj 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 



17 



Alkekengi, will relieve the gravel and stone. Liver shaped 
plants, as Liverwort a plant under the dominion of Jupiter, 
{See the following figure.) Trinity, Agaric, Permitory, Figs, 
etc., are all efficacious in bilious dis- 
eases. Walnuts, Indian nuts, Leeks, 
and the root of Ragwort, because of 
their form, when duly prepared will 
further generation and prevent ster- 
ility. Herbs and seeds, in shape like 
the teeth, as Toothvvort ; Pine-kernel, 
etc., preserve the dental organizi- 
tion. Plants of knobbed form, like 
the knuckles or joints, as Galingale, ("wT^f-^ 
and the knotty odoriferous rush, Cal- 
amus , are good for diseases of the 
spine and reins, foot, gout, knee 
swellings, and all joint pains whatso- 
ever Oily, vegetable products, as 
the Filbert, Walnut, Almond, etc., 
tL j nd to fatness of the body. 

Plants naturally lean, as Sar- 
1 saparilla or long-leaved Rosa Sulie 
em uiate those who use them. 

Fleshy plants, such as Onions, Leeks and Colewort, make 
flesh for the eaters. Certain plants, as the Sen-itive plant, 
N ttlos, the roots of Mallows, and the herb Neurus, when 
used as outward applications, fortify and bra re the nerves. 
Milky herbs, as Lettuce and the fruit of the Almond and 
Fig trees, propagate milk. Plants of a serous nature, as 
Spurge and Seunmony, purge the noxious humors between 
the flesh and the skin. Herbs whose acidity turns milk to 
curd, such as Gallium and the seeds of Sp'irge, will lead to 
procreation. Rue mixed wiih Cummin will relieve a sore 
breast, if a poultice of them be app'ied, when the milk 
is knotted therein ; while plants that are hollow, as the slaiks 




18 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

of Grain, Reeds, Leeks, and Garlick, are good to purge, 
open and soothe the hollow parts of the body. Many more 
instances of such adaptation of herbs and plants to dis- 
eases of the body, might be cited if deemed necessary. 

The vitality of plants may be destroyed by giving them 
deleterious or poisonous substances, such as arsenic, mercury, 
etc. In fact, mineral poisons act on plants and herbs in 
nearly the same way they do upon human beings or other 
animals. 

The color of plants is generally under the influence of 
solar light ; hence, plants grown in darkness become etiola- 
ted or blanched. The green of lenves is due to nitrogen, 
while in proportion as the oxygen of the air predominates, 
the leaves put on varied tints, as the beautiful red and 
crimson assumed by some leaves in Autumn. 

The color of flowers, as a general rule, is influenced by 
solar light, though the magnetic condition of the soil has 
much to do with the color. For instance, the petals of the 
common butter-cup are of as brilliant a yellow in town-gar- 
dens enveloped in the smoke of London, as on any country 
hill, while the tints of the rose remain, when languishing for 
lack of a clear atmosphere. The flowers of the common hy- 
drangea, which are naturally pink, may be made blue by 
planting the shrub in soil impregnated with iron. So will 
certain medical preparations of iron turn blue the human 
flesh. The color of the flower of the tulips can be turned 
into white, yellow, brown, purple, and a beautiful tint of 
rose, by transplanting the plants from a poor soil to a rich 
one, and vice versa. 

The fragrances of flowers and plants have their physiolo* 
gical or medical uses. The use of the fragrance in leaves, 
bark, and wood, is apparently to preserve them from the 
attacks of insects; as the smell of the red and Bermuda 
cedars ( of which pencils are made) and of Camphor, also a 
vegetable product, is to keep moths and other vermin from 
attacking substances with which they are in contact. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 19 

The taste produced by vegetable substances has also an 
important bearing in Herbal Medication, as for exarapl \ 
the juice of the sugar cane is sweet, that of the unripe apple 
is acid, that of the aloe is bitter, while that of the leaf of 
the bramble, is astringent. These influences are owing to 
solar light, atmospheric and stellar phenomena. 

Physiology will not deny the connection of dectricity with 
vegetable growth. The secretions of plants are various, as 
farinaceous, saccharine, oleaginous, balsamic, resinous, etc., 
while others are narcotic, aromatic, or mucilaginous, and 
another class again are astringent, as tonics, or purgatives. All 
these secretions have an important bearing in the treatment 
of disease by the Herbal Practice. 

The geographical distribution of plants is affected by 
planetary influences, constitutions of soil, heat, moisture, al- 
titude of situation, etc. The flowers, shrubs, and trees, which 
adorn the plains of India and South America, are not the 
same with those which clothe the valleys of England and 
North America. Nor are their medical properties the same, 
however those herbal products may resemble each other. 
The plants which flourish on the sea-shore of Great Britain 
are not the same as those on the coast of Africa, nor are 
these, again, allied to the maritime vegetation of Chili, South 
America. Nearly all the beautiful plants which adorn our 
green-houses, are natives of a limited space near the Cape 
ot Good Hope, as are also many of our most beautiful bulbs, 
j but the medical properties of all, become weakened and changed 
j -by transplantation. The curious stafelias, that emell so of- 
j fensively, are found wild only in South Africa. They 
are there used for medicinal purposes by the Aborigines. 
The trees that bear balsam grow principally in Arabia, and 
1 on the banks of the Red Sea. The umbeliferous and cinci- 
ferous plants, spread across Europe and Asia. The Cacti 
are found only in tropical America, while the lobiatae and 
cariophyllacea, are seldom discovered but in Europe. The 
peculiar ranges and centres of vegetation, as they are termed, 



20 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

are all owing to planetary, meteorological, and electrical in- 
fluences, and yield their medical properties in exact ratio 
of quality, in accordance with the latitudes or places in which 
they are indigenous. 

From the many facts existing, we must believe that 
there is not a single disease in mau that may not have 
its remedy or cure, in some herb or other, if we but knew which 
plant, and where to fiud it, in this, or that, or any clime, or 
portion of the world — agreeably to the providence of Nature. 

This fact or law is proven in the lower animal kingdom. 
Who has not often seen, not only our familiar domestic 
animals, but many of the untamed creatures of the forests, 
fields and air, seek out some one or peculiar herb, when la- 
boring under sickness or derangement of the functions of its 
organism ? 

Truly, Nature has wisely implanted a definite instinct in 
every organic creature, in order to serve for its health, or 
for its restoration to health from disease. In man, however, 
such instinct is not so plainly marked, but to him has been 
given reason and judgment, and ( in some few of the race, ) 
a disposition to investigate the laws and mysteries of crea- 
tion, in order to secure his own highest health and perfection, 
and to find the means for the healing of his kind, when 
they have become diseased through ignorance, perversion, 
and violation of the immutable ordinances of Creation. 

As the proverb says, " There are sermons in stones, and 
books in running brooks," so do we behold volumes of wis- 
dom in all the herbal kingdom — in every emerald and varie- 
gated leaf, in every tinted blossom — in all, there is a voice- 
less language, eternally singing significant psalms in praise 
of " Him who doeth all things 'well." 

Thus we find that adaptation is the law of the universe — 
and no where is it more vividly portrayed than in the growth 
and development of the Herbal world. 

It will thus be seen, that it is only by carefully studying 
the physiology or functions, or nature of plauts, we can 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 21 

derive instruction for the proper regulation or government of 
our own organisms. The causes- — whether planetary or other- 
wise — which influence the growth and development of phmts, 
are conditions necessary to be understood, in order to preserve 
the health or integrity of our systems. 

D pendent upon the causes I have already named, the 
plants, also, may lose their medicinal virtues ; while much 
will be owing to the season of the year when they are 
ga'liered, in order to adapt them to medical purposes. 

For instance, in the Spring of the year, the common Nettle 
pi int may afford a palatable food for man, but if selected at a 
later period, instead of serving as a savory vegetable, or puri- 
fier of morbid elements from the blood and system of man, 
might be converted into, or act as a virulent or dangerous 
poison upon his organism. 

In Chin i the Ginseng p'ant or root is regarded — weight for 
weight- — as silver, for medicinal purposes; whereas the same 
herb grown in America, or other countries, does not possess a 
tithe of the value of the Chinese production for healing purposes. 

There must be, therefore, I repeat, a combination of influences 
to ensure the full development or perfection of any plant. There 
must be not only internal but external stimuli, to develop the 
virtues of the herb. The external, as we have seen, consists of 
certain nutritious matters contained in the soil, water, atmos- 
pheric g ses, electricity, light and heat, besides the elements of 
oxygen, both in its combined or simple form, nitrogen, etc. 

If we take a stem cut from a pine tree, in the forests of North 
Carolina, and place it in contact with the trunk of a healthy 
growing pine, the former would destroy the latter in the course 
of the season. . The worms generated in the severed or decayed 
stem will pass to the living tree, and rapidly cause its destruc- 
tion. 

Any farmer knows that if the lordly oak be felled in June, it 
will pass into a complete state of decay in the course of from 
four to eight weeks, but if it be cut down at a proper season, 
it affords the best timber for the building of ships. 



22 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

We all know that a plant stripped of its leaves will soon 
perish. Among the reasons for this is, that the absorption by 
the roots is insufficient to supply all the materials for its nour- 
ishment. Let us look a Little! more closely into these phenomena 
of nature. There must be a certain number of stages for all 
herbal g-rowths. First, the ascending sap dissolves the nutri- 
tive deposits of the root and stem, and conveys them to assist 
in the development of leaves and flowers. Hence, it is evident 
that if the root, bark or stem, be gathered at this season, it will 
prove deficient in medical virtues, or be altogether inert. The 
leaves, also will be found worthless for remedial purposes. On 
the other hand, if we wait a little longer, or until the plant is 
fully developed, we will find that either the bark or root, the 
leaves or flowers, are full of rare medicinal virtues. 

The precise moment when all the assimilative processes of 
the plant have been perfected, whether it be Summer or Winter, 
Spring or Autumn — is the time to gather it for a remedial agent 
in disease, inasmuch as we know that the laws of chemical de- 
composition and recombination know no rest; hence, as in the 
case of the nettle, while it may be a good food in its earlier 
stages of development, it would prove a poison in a more ad- 
vanced stage of its growth. 

The peculiar properties of herbs as medicines will often de- 
pend upon the greenness or ripeness of the plant, and other 
circumstances attendant upon its cutting, and the length of time 
it is kept after being gathered. 

For instance, the concrete juice of the Manna-ash' (Fraxinus 
Ornus) — the manna of commerce — increases in purgative qual- 
ties by age. The Oak-bark, for tanning hides, improves in value 
for a period of four or five years after it has been stripped from 
the trunk ; in the same manner its medical propenies are either 
diminished or improved, according to the season when the bark is 
gathered, or the manner in which it is converted into tannic 
acid for medical or scientific purposes. 

It must be apparent to all, that herbs are liable to suffer from 
the vicissitudes of soil, climate, season, etc., and, as a matter 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 23 

of course, from tnese causes, will vary the medical principles 
attributed to them. 

Repeated analysis demonstrates the fact, that specimens of 
the same plant grown in different localities will vary infinitely 
in the proportions of the medical principles yielded. Take, for 
example, the Butterfly-weed, or Pleurisy-root (Asclepias Tube- 
rosa), which grows in the barren and sandy soil of New Jersey, 
and it will be found to yield from one to two hundred per cent, 
of its medical virtues more than the same plant grown in the 
rich alluvia] soils of the West. Hence, when given as medicine, 
the quantity mu^t correspond accordingly — be either increased 
or diminished, in order to secure its proper curative effects upon 
the system Thus it is seen that a medicine, prepared from 
plants culled at an improper season, will prove entirely inert or 
useless, while the same herb gathered at a proper time, in a 
proper climate, especially and properly prepared, would secure 
the restoration of a patient from disease to health. 

There is likewise a wide difference between the virtues of a 
plant growing in a wild or natural condition from that of the 
same herb when artificially cultivated. The transference of 
plants from their native locations, to soils prepared by the 
hands of man, induces many changes in their individual elements. 
, Many plants formerly used for medicines are now cultivated for 
the table alone. The small acid root of the Brassica Rupa has 
become the large and nutritious article of diet known as the 
turnip. The dandelion, when grown in natural localities, pos- 
sesses well-defined medical properties, all of which are lost when 
the plant is artificially cultivated. In the cultivated plant, the 
proportions of starch, grape-sugar, and other non-medical prin- 
ciples are largely increased, while that which is gathered in its 
wild or native state is known to possess rare virtues in affec- 
tions of the liver, kidneys, and respiratory organs. In the cul- 
tivated rose the stamens are converted into petals. The castor 
oil plant, in Africa, is a woody tree — in our gardens it is an 
annual. The mignionette, in Europe, is an annual plant, but 
becomes perennial in the sandy deserts of Egypt 



24 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

I repeat, from what has been seen it is evident that nil herbs, 
perhaps, possess some property suitable for medical purposes. 
These virtues.may be found in the root of one plant, in the ba?k 
of another, in the leaves of another, in the blossoms of another, 
in the seeds of another, or in the whole combined. Even the 
color of the flower has much to do with the therapeutic proper- 
ties of the plant — as for instance the Blue Vervain, as used in 
my Fits and Dyspepsia remedy, is the only kind that is used 
for medical purposes — ill the other species being either entirely 
useless, or else more or less dangerous. 

In fact, it is evident to the comprehension of the simplest 
mind, that climate and planetary influences have much to do 
with the full development of plants. This may be illustrated 
in the Tobacco raised in Cuba and that grown in Connecticut — 
the one being grown in a Southern and the o;her in a Northern 
climate. The poison nicotine is derived from the tobacco 
plant, the exhilerating caffeine and theine are obtained from the 
coffee berry and tea plant. Thus ir, is possible that some the- 
rapeutic agent or other may be derived from every plant grown 
on the surface of the globe. 

The Red Men of the American forests are never at a loss to 
know which plant is best, nor the time it should be gathered, to 
cure him of disease. Tney know ;iow to treat their complaints in 
physic, surgery and midwifery, with a skill that far surpasses 
that of many a learned doctor of the big medical schools, with 
all their science, and the medical teachings of physicians for 
upwards of four. thousand years. What other guide have the 
poor Indians — those untutored savages of the woods — but their 
reason and their instinct, their practical experience in the use of 
herbs, and their observation of planetary influences upon herbs? 

This is the same in the East Indies, South America, Sou:h 
Sea Islands, Patagonia, Africa, and other lands. . The negroes 
in the interior parts of Africa possess a knowledge cf the med- 
ical properties of plants which is really surprising, and, oy con- 
sequence, are rarely afflicted with disease. The art of healing 
in Sumatra consists in the application of plants, in whose medi- 



5 



*» 





THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 25 

cnl virtues they are surprisingly skilled. In fact, the Suma- 
trians have a degree of botanical knowledge that surprises the 
European or American. They become acquainted, at an early 
age, not only with the names, but the qualities and properties 
of every shrub and herb among that exuberant variety with 
which their country abounds. 

In gathering herbs for medical purposes, we should not only 
know the season when they should be culled, but we should be 
qualified to comprehend the principles of which the plant is 
composed — whether they be resins, alkaloids, or neutrals — and 
be able also to separate the one ingredient or element from the 
other, as a distinct medical property, or combine the whole for 
the purpose of a compound medical age&t. 

To understand these constituent elements of plants, and to be 
able to adapt them to the cure of all forms of disease, has been 
the main purpose of my life. With this view, as before re- 
marked, I have traveled in many lands, and made much re- 
search into the mysteries of Nature, as developed in the organi- 
zation of plants, with a success greater than has yet been 
achieved by any other man now on the f ice of the globe, as 
may be seen by referring to the various cases treated, as related 
in this volume. 

Accordingly, the knowledge thus obtained enables me to 
prepare four compound remedies (a full description of which 
may be found on page 279), in a way that renders their action 
upon all diseases of the human organism at once direct and 
certain. Their remedial virtues are always apparent, and never 
fail to cure, however inveterate or long standing the case of the 
disease, where the medicines are taken duly and in accordance 
with the Hygienic requirements, which will be found plainly 
laid down under their proper headings in this volume. 

Many of the herbs that I use in these medical compounds 
are gathered expressly for me, in various countries, by agents 
exclusively employed by myself, while those of native growth 
are selected usually under my own personal supervision, with 
the utmost accuracy, at all seasons of the year, or according to 



26 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

planetary influences, in order to possess their fullest therapeutic 
virtues from every portion of our own vast country, whether 
grown in a wild or cultivated state. 

Nor is this all that has to be done. Each plant, and every 
element or ingredient of it — whether the root, bark, leaf, flower 
or seed — are submitted to a most rigid chemical analysis, in 
order to ascertain the relative amount of their medical virtues, 
or the quantity, purity and strength of each, before a single 
principle or element can be used as a component part of any of 
the remedies which are prepared in my own laboratory, under 
my own ever-watchful care and supervision. But, iu order that 
all may be readily benefitted by this volume, whether desiring 
to purchase my remedies or not, or whether living in localities 
so far distant from railroads or expresses, that they cannot re- 
ceive them, I have given a large number of the most valuable 
prescriptions that can be found in the Herbal Practice, or as 
used by me before having discovered the specific remedies, as 
mentioned on page 2 19. 

These prescriptions, as a general rule, may be easily and 
cheaply prepared by any apothecary, or by any intelligent 
member of a family or household, care being taken that the 
herbs used shall be of the best quality. I also present a full 
description of the Plants composing these prescriptions, many 
of them most beautifully exhibited by life-like illustrations, even 
to the very colors of the blossom, and general contour of the herb. 

My sole object being to do all I can to assist in the relief of 
suffering humanity, should any one be afflicted with any com- 
plication of disease, for which none of the remedies I offer seem 
particularly adapted, he or she may send me a full description 
of their case, and I will immediately thereupon select some 
remedy that will be certain to reach and cure the particular 
case, whatever the peculiarities, temperament or idiosyncracy 
involved in any individual's remedial treatment. My terms 
shall always be extremely liberal, while in all cases the advice 
shall be gratis. Address Dr. 0. Phelps Brown, No. 19 Grand 
Street, Jersey City, N. J. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 27 

FOREIGN AND NATIVE PLANTS. 



THEIR MEDICAL PROPERTIES, AND THE 

INFLUENCE OP CLIMATES AND PLANETS 

OVER THEM. 



r 



ACACIA. Gum Arabic. 
Description. — Acacia Arabica, is a small tree or shrub, but 
which sometimes attains the height of forty feet, with a trunk 
from three to fonr feet in circumference. It is sometimes called 

I the Egyptian Thorn, or Egyptian Gum Arabic, The thorns 

! are sometimes short, some limes long, or almost wanting. The 
flowers are small and yellow, in globose heads, etc. 

History. — The tree inhabits the Southern portions of Asia, 

| and the upper portions of Africa. The gum flows naturally 
from the bark of the trees, in the form of a thick and rather 
frothy liquid, and speedily concretes into tears ; sometimes the 

J discharge is promoted by wounding the trunk and branches. 
The best quality of Gum Arabic is colorless, or very pale yel- 
Jow- white, shining, transparent, hard, but pulverable, inodorous, 
and of a sweet and viscous taste. Cold or hot water dissolves 
its own weight, forming a thick mucilaginous solution. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a tree influenced by the 
Moon. The gum is nutritive and demulcent, and exerts a 

\ soothing influence upon irritated or inflamed mucus tissues, by 
shielding them from the influence of deleterious agents, atmos- 
pheric air, etc. It is very useful in diarrhoea and dysenterv, 
to remove tenesmus and painful stools, in catarrh, cough, 
hoarseness gonorrhoea, inflamations, etc. It may be given 
almost ad libitum in powder, lozenge, or solution alone, or com- 
bined with syrups, decoctions, etc. [See " Acacian Balsam/ 9 
page 285.] 

ADDER'S TONGUE. Erythronium American™. 
Description. — This plant, also known by the names of Dog 



28 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Tooth Violet, Serpent's Tongue, Yellow Erythronium, etc., is 
a perennial plant, springing from a bulb at some distance below 
the surface, which is white internally, and fawn-colored exter- 
nally. The leaves are two, pale green with purplish or 
brownish spots, and one nearly twice as wide as the other. It 
bears a single, drooping } 7 ellow flower which partially closes at 
night, or on cloudy days. 

History. — This is a beautiful plant, among the earliest of 
our vernal flowers, found in rich open grounds, or in thin 
woods, throughout the United States, flowering in April or 
May. The English variety is similar to the above, and 
possesses the same medicinal properties. The bulb and leaves 
are the parts used, and iinpa:t their virtues to water. The 
leaves are more active than the roots. 

Government and Virtues. — It is an herb under the dominion 
of the Moon and Cancer. It is emetic, emollient, and anti- 
scrofulous when fresh, nutritive when dried. The fresh roots 
and leaves, simmered in milk, or the fresh leaves bruised and 
often applied as a poultice to scrofulous tumors or ulcers, 
together with a free internal use of an infusion of them is 
highly useful as a remedy, for scrofula.-- The expressed juice of 
the plant, infused in cider, is very useful in dropsy, and for 
relieving hiccough, vomiting, and hematemesis, or bleeding of 
the lower bowels. 

AGRIMONY. Agrimonia Eupatoria. 

Description. — Agrimony has a reddish, tapering, not creep- 
ing root, with brown stems covered with soft, silky hairs ; two 
or three feet high, and leaves dented about the edges, green 
above and greyish underneath. The flowers grow at the top 
of the stem, are yellow, small, and very numerous, one above 
another in long spikes, after which come rough heads of seeds, 
hanging downwards, which will stick to garments or anything 
that rubs against them, sometimes called Gockleburr or 
Sticklewort. 

History. — This perennial plant is found in Asia, Europe, 
Canada and the United States, along roadsides, and in fields 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 29 

and woods, flowering in July and August. Both the flowers 
and roots are fragrant, but harsh and astringent to the taste ; 
and yield their properties to water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is an herb under Jupiter and 
the sign of Cancer. Is a mild tonic, alterative and astringent. 
Useful in bowel complaints, chronic mucus diseases, chronic 
affections of the digestive organs, leucorrhcea or whites, etc. 
A strong decoction, sweetened with honey, is an invaluable 
cure for Scrofula, if persisted in for a length of time. It is 
exceedingly useful in Gravel, Asthma, Coughs and obstructed 
Menstruation. 

Dose. — Of the pulverized leaves, one teaspoonsful may be 
taken ; of the decoction, one wineglassful. 

ALDER. Prinos Verticillatus. 

Description. — This is an indigenous shrub, of irregular 
growth, sometimes known as Winterberry. The stem is six or 
eight feet in height, with greyish bark and alternate branches ; 
the leaves are olive green, smooth above and downy beneath ; 
the flowers are small and white, the berries are globular and of 
a bright scarlet color. 

History. — Black alder is common in the United States and 
England, growing in moist woods, swamps, etc., flowering 
from May to June, and maturing its fruit in the latter part of 
Autumn. The bark and berries are used for medicinal pur- 
poses. It has a bitterish, sub-astringent taste, and yields its 
properties to water by infusion or decoction. The berries have 
a sweetish taste, and yield their virtues to water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a shrub of Venus, under 
the sign of Cancer. It is tonic, alterative and astringent, It 
is very beneficial in jaundice, diarrhoea, gangrene, dropsy, 
and all diseases attended with great weakness. Two drachms 
of powdered bark, and one of powered golden seal, infused 
in a pint of boiling water, and when cold, taken in the course 
of the day, in doses of a wine-glassful, and repeated daily, 
has proved very efficacious in dyspepsia. Externally, the 



30 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

decoction forms an excellent local application in gangrene, 
indolent ulcers, and some affections of the skin. The berries 
are cathartic and vermifuge, and form with cedar apples a pleas- 
ant and effectual worm medicine for children. Dose of the 
powdered bark from half a drachm to a drachm. Of the 
decoction, a teaspoonful three or four times a day. Black Al- 
der is an ingredient in several alterative syrups 

ALE-HOOF or Ground Ivy. 

Description. — This plant is a native of England, and well 
known by many names, as Cat's Foot, Ground Ivy, Gill-goby- 
ground, Gill Creep-by -ground, Turnhoof, Haynaids, etc. It 
spreads and creeps upon the ground : shoots forth roots at the 
corners of tender-jointed stalks, set with two round, hairy, 
crumpled and unevenly dented leaves at the joints. With the 
leaves towards the end of the branches, come forth long, hol- 
low, blueish flowers, with small white spots on the lips that 
hang down ; the root is small with strings. It grows under 
hedges, on the sides of ditches, under houses, in shady lanes, 
and waste grounds. Its flowers come early and abide a great 
while ; the leaves continue green all the year unless the Winter 
be sharp and cold. 

Government and Virtues. — It is an herb of Venus. It is 
sharp and bitter in taste, and a decoction of it is singularly 
good for ulcerated Lungs, and all inward wounds. It is excel- 
lent for liver complaints, jaundice, wind in the stomach and 
bowels. It provokes urine and menstruation. The decoction 
of it in wine, will soon procure ease to those troubled with 
sciatica, or other gouty or rheumatic affections ot the joints. 
The decoction with a little honey and alum, is a good gargle 
for sore mouth or throat. The juice of it, boiled with a little 
honey and verdigris, will wonderfully cleanse fistulas, ulcers, 
and spreading eating cancers, etc. The juice dropped in the 
eyes, will help pains, redness, and the watering of them ; like- 
wise, if dropped in the ears help the noise and ringing therein, 
and improves the hearing. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 31 

ALEXANDER. 

Description. — Alexander, sometimes called Alisander, Horse 
Parsley, Wild Parsley, and the Black Pot Herb, is too well 
known in Europe to need any description. It flowers in June 
and July, and its seeds are ripe in August. 

Government and Virtues. — It is an herb of Jupiter and 
therefore friendly to nature, warming cold stomachs, removing 
obstructions of the liver, spleen, kidneys, bladder, etc., flatu- 
lency, stranguary, and to move women's courses. [If the best 
is not to be had see Magic Assimilant, page 279. ] A decoc- 
tion of either of the leaves or seeds, may be taken freely for 
the above disorders of the human system. 

ALKANET. Anchusa Tinctoria. 

Description. — This plant is known in Europe by the names 
of Orchanet, Spanish Buglow, and Enchusa, but the Alhanet 
proper is the only kind that grows in England. It has a 
great, thick, red-colored root, with long, narrow, hairy, green 
leaves, which lie very thick upon the ground. The stalks are 
encircled with tender, slender, narrower leaves than those at 
the bottom of the stalks ; while the flowers are small, sallow, 
and reddish color, appearing in July and August The seed 
ripens soon after, but the roots, (like carrots and parsnips,) 
are in their prime before the herb runs up to stalk. 

Government and Virtues. — This herb is one of the darlings 
of Venus, and sometimes hard to be obtained in its purity. 
The roots boiled in wine are good for liver complaints, jaundice, 
spleen, and obstructions of the kidneys and bladder, weak 
back, and pains thereof. An ointment of the leaves helps old 
ulcers, burns, scalds, St. Anthony's fire, bruises, falls, green 
wounds, etc. A vinegar mide of the leaves, as you make 
vinegar of roses, cleanses the face of morphew and other spots 
and blemishes of the skin. 

ALL-HEAL. Prunflla Yulgaris. 
Description. — All-heal is sometimes called Hercules^ wound- 
wort. It has a long, thick root, full of a hot and biting juice, 



32 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

with large, hairy, ash-tree like, green leaves ; each leaf consist* 
ing of five or six pair of wings, set opposite each other on 
foot-stalks, and having a bitterish taste when chewed in the 
mouth. It has a strong, round, green stalk, with many joints, 
and some leaves thereat, growing to the height of five feet. 
It bears a small yellow flower, and yields seeds of a whitish, 
yellow, short, flat appearance, hiving a bitter taste. It flow- 
ers usually at the end of Summer in England, although found 
in blossom in other parts of Europe from May to December, 
where it is sometimes called Panay, Opapanewort, etc. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Mars, hot, bitter, and choleric in its nature. A decoction is 
good to expel worms, to provoke urine, and to help all joint 
aches, etc. Is excellent for cramps, fits, falling sickness, and 
convulsions, [ but is not as good as Blue Vervain, see prepared 
medicine, page 279, ] obstructions of the liver and spleen, 
kidneys and bladder. It is also good for the toothache, and 
the biting of mad dogs and venomous creatures. 

ALMONDS. The Amygdaltjs Communis. 

Amygdala Amara, Bitter Almonds. Amygdala Dulcis, 
Sweet Almonds. Kernels. 

Description. — The almond tree is from ten to eighteen feet 
high, and grows in the south of Europe, Birbary, and Asia, 
and yields both the sweet and bitter Almonds. The leaves 
are of a bright light green, two to four inches long and about 
three quarters of an inch broad. The flowers are moderately 
large, pink or white, resembling the peach blossom in color, 
in pairs, and appearing before the leaves. Stone, oblong or 
ovate, hard in various degrees, always rugged and pitted with 
irregular holes. 

History. — The best of the sweet kind comes from Malaga. 
The sweet almond kernel is without odor, and of a pleasant 
flavor ; that of the bitter is also inodorous, unless it be rubbed 
with water, when it exhales a smell similar to Prussic acid. 
Its taste is similar to that of peach meats. Both varieties 




THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 33 

of kernel contain oil ; the sweet a fixed oil ; the bitter, a fixed 
oil and an essential oil impregnated with hydrocyanic acid, 
(Prussic acid.) The oil of Bitter Almonds has a golden color, 
an agreeable odor, and an acid, bitter taste, and is combustible, 
burniug with a white flame. The oil of Bitter Almonds is a 
poison acting in the same manner as Prussic acid. One 
drachm of this oil dissolved in three drachms of alcohol, forms 
an " essence of almonds," much used by confectioners, perfu- 
mers, etc. A soap is made from it, under the name of 
Saponaceous Cream of Almonds. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus, and 
opposes the ill effects of liars. Triturated with water, Sweet 
Almonds produce a white mixture called emulsion or milk of 
almonds, which possesses a very remarkable analogy with 
animal milk. It contains a great quantity of oil, kept in sus- 
pension in water by the gum and albumen ; and is used as a 
demulcent, and as a vehicle for other medicines. The oil in 
small quantity, acts as a demulcent ; in larger doses, it is 
laxative. It is frequently employed in cough, diseases attended 
with intestinal irritation, and for mitigating the acrimony of 
the urine in calculous affections, etc. Dose of the oil is a 
teaspoonful. 

. AMAHA DULCIS, or Bitter Sweet. 

Description.— Amara Tulcis, or Bitter Sweet, is also some- 
times called Mortal, Woody Nightshade, and Felon wort. Its 
woody stalks grow to the height of a man, and sometimes 
higher. Tue leaves fall at the approach of Winter, and spring 
out again from the same stalk the ensuing Spring. The branch 
has a whitish bark, with a pith in its ceutre. The main 
branch divides into many smaller branches, with claspers that 
lay hold of what is next to them, as vines do. The leaves are 
many, longish, somewhat broad and pointed at the ends, and 
of a pale green color, although growing in no regular order. 
The flowers are blue, or a purple color, like to violets, standing 

many together in knots. The berries, at first, are green, but 

2* 



34 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

very red when ripe, tasting sweet at first, and bitter after- 
wards. The plant is common in Euglaud, growing in moist 
and shady places. The leaves put out about the first of April, 
the flowers in July, the seeds ripening the following month. 

Government and Virtues.— This plant is under Mercury, 
and a notable herb if rightly gathered under his influence. 
A pound of the leaves and wood bruised or pulverized and 
boiled in three pints of white wine, then strained and drank in 
wineglassful doses, is excellent to open obstructions of the 
liver and spleen ; helps difficulty in breathing, and congestions 
of blood from bruises and falls, in any part of the body. It 
is good for the black and yellow jaundice, dropsy, and to 
cleanse women newly brought to bed. The bruised berries 
applied to felons will speedily cure them. It is also good for 
vertigo, or dizziness in the head. 

AMARANTH. Amaranthus Hypochondriasis 
Description. — This is an annual herb, with a stout, upright 
stem, from three to four feet high, with oblong green leaves, 
red spots or tinged with purple, clustering flowers of a bright- 
red purple, plume-like form. 

History. — This plant, known also by the names of Princes 1 
Feathers, Lovely Bleeding, Bed Cock's-comb, is cultivated as 
an ornamental plant, in the gardens of the middle states of 
America. It is known likewise in England as the Flower 
Gentle, Flower Velure, Floramor, and Velvet Flower. The 
flowers are not properly flowers, but tutts ; and appear in 
August, and continue till the frost bites them. The leaves are 
the parts used, and yield their virtues to water. 

Government and Virtues.— It is under the dominion of 
Saturn, and is an excellent qualifier of the unruly actions and 
passions of Venus, though Mars also should join with her. 
Amaranth is astringent. The decoction drank freely, is highly 
useful in severe menorrhagia (profuse menstruation,) in diarr- 
hoea, dysentery, and hemorrhage from the bowels. It is a 
good local application in ulceration of the mouth and throat, as 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 35 

a wash to foul, indolent ulcers, and as an injection in Fluor- 
albus or leucorrhcea, etc. 

ANEMONE. Anemone Nemorosa. 

Description. — Anemone Nemorosa, sometimes called Wind 
Flower, because the flowers never open but when the wind 
blows. The seeds, also, (if it bears any at all,) fly away 
with the wind. It is a delicate and pretty plant, with a 
creeping root, and a simple erect stem, with a single flower 
on a naked peduncle, and trom six to nine inches high. 

History. — This plant is common in Europe and the United 
States, bearing purplish-white flowers, in April and May. 
There are several varieties of it, which possess similar 
properties, but the A. Palsatilla, or Meadow Anemone of 
Europe, is the most active among them. The herbaceous part 
of the plant is employed in medicine. It is a favorite medicine 
among the Homoeopathic physicians, in a variety of obstinate 
diseases. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Mars, being supposed to be a kind of Crow-foot. A decoction 
of the leaves provokes the terms of women mightily. The 
body bathed with the decoction cures leprosy. It is used 
in amaurosis and other diseases of the eye, secondary syphilis, 
cutaneous diseases, and hooping-cough, in doses of one or two 
grains daily. In the recent state, the leaves bruised and 
applied to the skin are rubefacient. In large doses, it pro- 
duces nausea, vomiting, looseness, and bleeding of the bowels. 
Therefore much caution is required in its use. 

ANGELICA. Angelica Atropurpurea. 

Description. — This is a well known plant in England, and a 
particular description of it will be needless. • 

Government and Virtues. — -It is an herb of the Sun, in Leo, 
and should be gathered when Sol is in Leo of the Zodiac, the 
Moon, at the same time, applying a good aspect ; or it may 
be gathered in the hour of Jupiter, when the Sun is angular 
to that planet. This plant has many admirable medical proper- 



36 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

ties. & powder of the root helpeth pleurisy, cough, shortness 
of breath, and other diseases of the lungs and breasts. A 
syrup of the stalks will do the same. A wine decoction of the 
root, e^seth all pains and torments coming of the cold and 
wind, helps digestion, removes all stoppages of the liver, and 
spleen, nrine, etc., procureth woman's courses, and discusseth 
all windiness and inward swellings, etc. An ointment made of 
the whole plant, is excellent for ulcers of all kinds, cleansing 
and causing them to heal quickly. 

ANISEED. Pimpinella Anisum. 

Description. — Anise has a perennial, spindle-shaped, woody 
root ; a smooth, erect, branched stem, about ten or twelve 
inches in height. The leaves are roundish, heart-shaped, 
sermted or saw-like at the edges. The flowers are white and 
small, disposed on long stalks, nine or ten razed, and naked. 

The fruit is ovate, a line and a half, or one-eighth of an inch 
long, dull brown and slightly downy. 

History. — It is a native of Egypt, and a plant of the Sun. 
It is now extensively cultivated in the warmest portions of 
Europe. The fruit of the Spanish plant is that which is 
most generally selected for medical purposes. The odor of 
Anise is penetrating and fragrant, and the taste aromatic and 
sweetish. Alcohol takes up its properties, water partially so. 
The Star Anise, used in cordials, possesses a taste and odor 
similar to Anise, but it is procured from the Jlliciam Anis- 
atum, a plant of Eastern Asia. The volatile oil obtained 
from it is fraudulently substituted for the European oil of 
Anise. 

Government and Virtues. — Plant of Mercury. Stimulant 
and carminative ; used in flatulency, flatulent colic of infants, 
and to remove nausea. It is sometimes added to other medi- 
cines to improve their flavor, correct griping and other disagree- 
able effects. It is also a valuable addition to cough medicines. 
The oil extracted from the seeds, dissolved in alcohol, an ounce 
of the former to a pint of the latter, forms what is called the 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 37 

essence of Anise. Dose of the essence, from thirty drops to a 
teaspoonful in sweetened water. The dose of the seed, crushed 
or powdered, is from twenty to forty grains. 

ARCHANGEL. Angelica Archaxgel. 
Description. — It has divers, square, hairy stalks, at the 
joints of which grow sad green leaves, dented about the edges. 
The flowers are of pale-reddish color, the seeds appearing 
three or four in a husk. The root is small and thready, per- 
ishing every year. The whole plant has a strong but not 
offensive smell. All varieties are natives of England, and 
flower from the beginning of Spring all Summer long. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus, hotter 
and dryer than the Stinging Nettle in its nature. The flowers 
of the White Archangel, in decoction, is good for the whites, 
and those of the red to stay the menses. A decoction of either 
kind, makes the heart merry, drives away melancholy, and 
quickens the spirits. An ointment made of the whole plant, 
will discuss the Kings Evil, all Scrofulous tumors, and give 
ease to the gout, sciatica, and other pains of the joints and 
and sinews. Good, also, to heal green wounds and old ulcers, 
and prevent them from fretting, gnawing, and spreading. The 
chief use of the different varieties, is in female complaints, as 
leucorrhoea and menstruation. 

ASARABACCO. Asarum Europeaum. 
Description. — It is like an evergreen, keeping its leaves all 
the Winter, and putting forth new ones in the Spring. It has 
many heads rising from the roots, from whence come many 
smooth leaves of a dark green, shining color above, and pale 
yellow green beneath. The roots spread divers ways, but do 
not creep on the ground. 

History. — It grows in moist, hilly woods, and presents a 
bell-shaped, dingy-brownish, red flower from May to August. 
The root and leaves are used in medicine. The root, when 
dried, has a pepper-like odor, spicy taste, and yields an ash- 
colored powder. Its properties are taken up by aclohol or 
water. 



88 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant under the dominion 
of Mars^ and therefore inimical to Nature. It is emetic, cathar- 
tic, and errhine, principally used in certain affections of the 
brain, eyes, face, and throat, toothache, and paralysis of the 
mouth and tongue. It is used by drunkards in France to pro- 
duce vomiting. It should not be used, unless by advice of 
some attending physician. 

The dose is from ten to twelve grains. To promote vomiting 
it is taken in half drachm or drachm doses. 

AYA-PANA. Aya-pana Eupatorium. 
Description. — While traveling in Paraguay, South Amer- 
ica, some years ago, I became acquainted with a species of 
Eupatorium or Lungwort called Aya-pana, possessed of 
most extraordinary virtues in Consumption and other diseases 
of the chest In Paraguay, which is a very paradise on earth, 
numerous medicinal herbs of exceeding great value grow to 
the greatest perfection. The Aya-pana belongs to the class of 
Eupatorium Perfoliatum, though quite unlike the Lungwort 
and Thorough-wort indigenous to North America. The Ay a* 
pana is only found on the eastern slope of the Andes, on the 
mountain sides, along the sunny banks of streams and beauti- 
fully luxuriant on all the tributaries to the Am >zon, and La 
Plata especially. It is a perennial plant, with numerous 
erect, round hairy stems, five to ten feet high, the stalk plain 
below, but branching out in numerous stems near the top. 
The leaves grow on the opposite sides of the stalk in pairs, 
each pair being joined at the base. The direction of each 
pair of leaves is at right angles with that of the pair either 
above or beneath. The leaves are long and narrow, broadest 
at the base where they coalesce, gradually tapering to a 
seriated point, wrinkled, paleish green on the under surface, 
and beset with white silken hairs, which add much effect to 
their greenish gray color. The flowers are snow- white, 
slightly tinged with a purplish hue at the end, very numerous, 
supported on hairy peduncles. The calyx is cylindrical, and 
composed of imbricated, lanceolate, hairy scales, inclosing 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 39 

from twelve to fifteen tubular florets, having their border 
divided into five spreading segments. There are five black 
anthers united in a tube, through which a bifid filiform style 
projects above the flower, rendering the whole a beautiful and 
picturesque plant. 

Government and Virtues.— It flowers constantly during the 
dry or sunny season, the blossoms and leaves being only used 
for medicinal purposes. Tue flowers are better than the 
leaves, have an aromatic odor, resembling slightly chamomile, 
and possess a strong bitter taste, somewhat like horehound or 
quassia, which virtue is imparted either to water or alcohol. 
Resin, gum, balsam, and mucilage are among the principal 
constituents of the flowers. The flowers are gathered in the 
morning on sunny days, carefully dried in the sun, or by 
artificial heat, when they are put up in bags or cedar boxes, 
and become ready for medicinal use. Prepared in this way, the 
flowers and leaves retain their properties for years, improving 
in their virtues by age, adding to their rich honey- 
like yellow coloring matter, when distilled for medical 
purposes. 

This is decidedly a plant of the Sun, inasmuch as it delights 
in the sunlight, in the glorious rays of the Orient, on the 
eastern slopes of the Andes, where the first beams of Aurora 
illumine the great waters of the Atlantic, and is never found 
on the moonlight Pacific regions of the Occident. It is 
always fouud in the sign of Leo or lion, and therefore at once 
shows its great influence over the valvular action of the heart, 
its healthful invigoration of the arterial and venous systems, and 
its wonderful power in expelling carbonic acid from the air- 
cells, and pulmonary vessels, prior to the elimination of rich 
vermillion blood, through the great aorta of the human 
economy. (See " Acacian Balsam? page 291.) 

BALM. Melissa Officinalis. 
Description. — Balm is a well-known perennial herb, with 
upright, branching, four-sided stems, from ten to twenty inches 



40 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

high. The leaves are broad and opposite, and the flowers pale 
yellow. 

History.— Balm is a native of France, but naturalized in 
England and the United States. It grows in fields, along road 
sides, and is well known as a garden plaut, flowering from 
May to August. The whole plant is officinal, or medicinal, and 
should be collected previous to flowering. In a fresh state, it 
has a lemon-like odor, which is nearly lost by drying. Its taste 
is aromatic, faintly astringent, with a degree of persistent bit- 
terness. Boiling water extracts its virtues. Balm contains a 
bitter extractive substance, a little tannin, gum, and a peculiar 
volatile oil. A pound of the plant yields about four grains of 
of the oil, which is of a yellowish, or reddish yellow color, very 
liquid, and possessing the fragrance of the plant in a high de- 
gree. The Nepeta Citriodora, a powerful emmenagogue, is some- 
times cultivated and employed by mistake for Balm. It has 
the same odor, but may be distinguished by having both 
surfaces of the leaves hairy. 

Government and Virtues. — It is au herb of Jupiter under 
Cancer and strengthens much in all its actions. It is moder- 
ately stimulant, diaphoretic and antispasmodic. A warm 
infusion drank freely, is very serviceable to produce sweating, 
or as a diaphoretic in fevers. It is also very useful in painful 
menstruation, and Uso to assist the courses of females. When 
given in fevers, it may be rendered more agreeable by the 
addition of lemon juice. It is very good to help digestion and 
drive away melancholy, and troublesome thoughts and cares 
out of the mind. It will make the heart merry, and revive the 
spirit in swooning and fainting spells. The herb bruised and 
boiled in a little wine and sweet oil, and laid warm on a boil, 
will ripen and break it. The infusion may be taken at pleasure, 
without any injury to the system. 

BALMONY. Chalone Glabra. 

Description. — Balmony, also known as Snake-head, Turtle* 
bloom, Turtle-head, Salt Rheum-weed, is a perennial, smooth, 
herbaceous plant, wiih a simple, erect, somewhat four-sided 





£ 




aq£ ** ■ ^ 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 41 

stem, about two or three feet high. The leaves are smooth 
and of a dark shining green. The flowers are of many colors, 
large and inodorous, very ornamental according to the variety 
of the plant. 

History. — This valuable medical plant is found in the United 
States, in damp soils, flowering in August ^ud September. 
The leaves are the parts used, they are exceedingly bitter, but 
inodorous, and communicate their properties to both water and 
alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is governed by Saturn. It is 
tonic, cathartic, and anthelmintic ; very valuable in jaundice, 
hepatic or liver diseases, and for the removal of worms. In 
small doses, it is a good tonic in dyspepsia, debility of the 
digestive organs, and during convalesence from febrile and in- 
flammatory diseases. An ointment made from the fresh leaves, 
is valuable for piles, inflamed breasts, tumors, and painful 
ulcers. 

Dose. — Of the powdered leaves, one drachm. Of the tincture 
one or two teaspoonsful. Of its active principle, Chelonin 9 
one or two grains. 

BARBERRY. Berberis Vulgaris. 

Description. — Barberry is an erect, deciduous shrub, from 
three to eight feet high, with leaves ot an ovobate-oval form, 
terminated by soft bristles, about two inches long, and one-third 
as wide. The flowers are small and yellow, in clusters, and the 
fruit bright red, oblong berries, in branches, and very acid. 

History. — This shrub is found in the New England states, on 
the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia, among rocks, and 
hard gravelly soil. Occasionally it is found in the West on rich 
grounds. It flowers in April and May and ripens its fruit in 
June. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Moon, tonic, 
and laxative, indicated in jaundice, chronic diarrhoea and dysen- 
tery* The berries form an agreeable acidulous draught, useful 
as a refrigereut in fevers, the bark is bitter and astringent, and 
used in the treatment of jaundice. The bark of the root is the 



42 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 



most active; a teaspoonful of the powder will act as a purga- 
tive. A decoction of the bark or berries will be found of service 
as a wash or gargle in apthoas sore mouth and chronic opthalniia. 

BEAD TREE. Melia Azedakach. 

Description. — This is an elegant tree, sometimes known 
as Bead Tree, Pride of China, etc. It has a trunk about a 
foot and a half in diameter and obtains the height of thirty or 
forty feet ; rough bark, lilac colored flowers, and a fruit of the 
size of a small olive, with one five-celled bony nut j cells one- 
seeded. 

History. — It is a native of China, but cultivated in the warm 
climates of Europe and America. It does not grow to any 
extent north of Virginia, and flowers early in the Spring. Its 
name of Bead Tree is derived from the use to which its hard 
nuts are put in Roman Catholic countries, viz — for making 
rosaries. The recent bark of the root is the most active part 
for medicinal purposes ; it has a disagreeably bitter taste, and 
a very unpleasant cdor, and imparts its properties to water at 
212* F. 

Government and Virtues— Tt is governed by Mercury. 
The bark is anthelmintic, and in large doses narcotic and emetic. 
It is useful in worm fevers, and in infantile remittents, in which, 
although worms are absent, yet the symptoms are similar to 
those accompanying the presence of worms. 

Dose of the powderred bark, twenty grains. Of the decoc- 
tion, (which is the best form for administration — two ounces of 
the bark to a pint of water, and boiled down to half a pint,) a 
table-spoonful every one, two, or three hours, till the desired 
effect is obtained. A purgative should follow its employment. — 
[See " Renovating Pill," page 294.] 

The fruit is somewhat saccharine, and is an excellent remedy 
to expel worms. Its pulp is used as an ointment for destroying 
lice and other octozoa, as well as in treatment of scald head 
and other diseases of the skin. The oil of the nuts is useful as 
a local application in rheumatism, cramps, obstinate ulcers, etc. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 43 

BEETS. Beta Vulgaris. 

Description, — There are two varieties of the Beet, the 
White, and Red, so well known that they need not be particu- 
larly described. Both varieties are extensively cultivated in 
Europe and America, chiefly as an article of diet, and to some 
extent, for the manufacture of sugar. The word Beta is 
derived from the Celtic bstt, meaning red. 

Government and Virtues. — The red beet is governed by 
Saturn, and the white by Jupiter, therefore, their medical qual- 
ities are different. The white kind is good for all obstructions 
of the liver, spleen, kidneys, and bladder; and the red for fluor 
albus and irregular menstruation. 

The Red kiud has emmenagogue, refrigerant, antiseptic, absor- 
bent and demulcent properties. The leaves are useful for local 
inflammation, carbuncles, bruises, sore eyes, etc., and the root 
itself, cut in slices is also beneficial for local inflammation. The 
beet, as an emmenagogue is very mild in its action, exciting the 
menstrual secretions, without any unusual degree of pain, las- 
situde or pressure. The true office of an emmenagogue is to 
restore lost or diminished secretions, which certainly is not indi- 
cated or expected in cases of pregnancy. Therefore its use in 
pregnancy is to produce- abortion. A strong gin decoction of 
! the root is used. The powder called Betni, may be given in 
three to six grain doses, every four hours, tor suppressed men- 
struation, commencing about four days before the expected flow. 
A hip bath will greatly aid this or any other emmenagogue 



agent. 



WOOD BETONY. Betonica Officinalis. 
Description. — This plant has many leaves rising from the 
root, broad and round, and indented about the edges, and 
standing upon long foot-stalks. From these rise up, small, 
slender, upright, hairy stalks, with leaves at the joints, smaller 
than the lower, whereon are set several spiked heads of flowers 
like Lavender, but thicker and shorter, and of a reddish or 
purple color, with white spots in the upper and lower parts. 
I The seeds are blackish, long, and uneven, and contained within 



44 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

the husks that hold the flowers. The roots are many white, 
thready strings. The stalk perishes, but the roots with some 
leaves abide all Winter. The plant is small, and a native of 
England. It grows usually in woods, aud delights in shady 
places. It is in its prime in May, yet it does not flower till 
July, the seeds quickly ripening afterwards. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter, in the 
sign " Aries." The decoction is an excellent remedy for dys* 
pepsia or indigestion, or those that have weak stomachs, soar 
belchings, and continual rising of acid from the stomach. It 
is also good for liver complaints, jaundice, falling sickness or 
fits, convulsions, shrinking of the sinews, palsy, dropsy, pain in 
the head, etc. The powder mixed with pure honey is likewise 
beneficial in coughs, colds, wheezings, shortness of breath, and 
pains in the sides and back, and for incipient consumption, gri- 
ping pains in the bowels, and wind colic. A decoction helps to 
bring down menstruation, and is of especial use for those 
troubled with the falling of the womb and the pains thereof. 
It expels all obstructions in the kidneys and bladder. It stays 
bleeding at the mouth and nose, and other hemorrhages, and 
is useful in ruptures and bruises by falls, etc. The green herb 
bruised, or an ointment made of it, will draw away broken 
bone or splinter, or thorn, or glass, or other thing from the 
flesh, and is valuable in all old sores, fistulas and ulcers. The 
fumes of the decoction while warm, received by a flannel into 
the ears, eases ear-ache, and cures offensive discharges from 
them. The root of the Wood Betony is very displeasing to 
the taste and stomach, whereas the leaves and flowers, by their 
sweet and spicy taste, are very comfortable as a medicine. 
It is certainly a very precious herb, and worthy to be kept in 
every household, both in syrap, conserve, oil, ointment, and 
plasters. The flowers are usually conserved. 

The Water Betony is an excellent remedy for nausea ; 
but makes a good ointment for ulcers, etc., while the distilled 
water of the leaves may be used to remove freckles and sun- 
burns from the face. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 45 

BETH-ROOT. Tulliam Pendulum. 

Description.— -This plant is variously known as Wake Rob- 
in, Birth-root, Indian Balm, Lambs Quarter, Ground Lilij, 
etc. It is an herbaceous, perennial plant, having an oblong 
tuberous root, from which arises a slender stem from ten to 
fifteen inches in height. The leaves are three in number, from 
three to five inches iu diameter, etc. 

History. — This plant is common in the Middle and Western 
states, growing in rich soils and shady woods, flowering in 
May and June. There are many varieties, all possessing anal« 
ogous medical properties. These plants may be generality 
known by their three net veined leaves, and their solitary 
terminal flower, which varies in color in the different species, 
being whitish-yellow, and reddish-white. The roots have a 
faint turpentine odor, and a peculiar aromatic and sweetish 
taste. When chewed, they impart an acid, astringent impres- 
sion to the month, causing a flow of saliva and a sensation of 
heat in the throat and fauces. 

Government and Virtues. — Beth-root is a plant of Jupiter, 
mollified by Venus. It is astringent, tonic, and antiseptic, and 
is successfully employed in bleeding from the lungs, kindeys 
and womb, excessive menstruation, and likewise in leucorrhcea 
or whites, and cough, asthma, and difficult breathing. Boiled 
in milk it is of eminent benefit in diarrhoea and dysentery. 
The root made into a poultice is very useful in tumors, indolent 
and offensive ulcers, stings of insects, and to restrain gan- 
grene ; and the leaves boiled in lard are a good application to 
ulcers, tumors, etc. 

Dose of powdered root is one drachm, to be given in hot 
water. A strong infusion of from two to four fluid ounces, is 
the most common form of administration. The red Beth-root 
will check ordinary epistaxis, or bleeding of the nose. The 
leaves boiled in lard is a good external application in ulcers 
and tumors. A strong infusion of powdered Beth-root, of from 
two to four table-spoonsful is the most pleasant form of admin- 
istration of this valuable remedy. 



46 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

BIRD'S FOOT. Ornithopus. 

Description, — This plant is indigenous to England. It is a 
small herb, not above a span in height, with many branches 
spread upon the ground, set with many wings of small leaves. 
The flowers are small and numerous, of a pale yellow color, 
being set a-head together, which afterwards turn into small 
jointed pods, well resembling the claw of small birds, whence 
the plant takes its name. It grows on heaths and untilled 
places, producing flowers and seeds at the end of Summer. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Saturn, and of a 
drying, binding quality. A decoction is good for kidney and 
bladder diseases, stone, gravel, rupture, etc., while an ointment 
is good for all kinds of globular swellings, indolent tumors, etc. 

BISHOP'S WEED. Ammt. 

Description. — This plant is indigenous to England and Wales, 
and is known by many names, as Ethiopian Cummin seed, 
Cummin-royal, Herb William and Bull-wort. It rises up 
with a round, straight stalk, from three to six feet high, beset 
with many small long and broadish green leaves, dented about 
the edges. The flowers are white, and turn into small round 
seeds, little bigger than a parsley seed, of a quick, hot scent 
and taste. The root is white and stringy, perishing yearly, 
and rising again from its own sowing. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus, It is a 
good aphrodisiac, provoking amorous desires ; and is useful in 
provoking urine, menses, and easing pains and gripings in the 
bowels. Mixed with honey, it removes the black and blue 
marks coming of blows or bruises, etc. 

BITTER ROOT. Apocynum Andros^mifolium. 

Description. — This is a smooth, elegant, indigenous plant, 
with a large perennial root, and a stem five or six feet high, 
the leaves dark green, and the flowers white, tinged with 
red. 

History. — This plant, sometimes called Dogs-bane Milkweed, 
etc., is indigenous to the United States, growing in dry, sandy 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 47 

gn'ls, and in the borders of woods, from Maine to Florida, fiow- 
ering from May to August. When any part of the plant is 
wounded, a milky juice exudes. The large, milky root, is the 
part used for medicinal purposes. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus. Emetic, 
diaphoretic, tonic and laxative. It is very valuable in all liver 
or chronic hepatic affections. In conjunction with Mernisfer- 
num, it is excellent in dyspepsia and amenorrhcea. When it is 
required to promptly empty the stomach, without causing much 
nausea, or a relaxed condition of the muscular system, the 
powdered root may be given in two or three scruple doses ; but 
much prostration is apt to ensue. As a laxative, it is useful in 
constipation. As a tonic, ten or twenty grains may be given 
to stimulate the digestive apparatus, and thus effect a corres- 
ponding impression on the general system. It is also useful as 
an alterative in rheumatism, scrofula and syphilis. 
BLACKBERRY. Rubus Villosus. 

Description. — There are many species growing in the United 
States, known under the names of Blackberry, Dewberry or 
Low Blackberry, Bed Baspberry, etc. The Blackberry is a 
perennial, half shrubby plant, its root woody and knotty, send- 
ing up a tall, branching, slender and prickly stem, from three to 
six feet high, the leaves in threes, fives, and sometimes solitary; 
i flowers large, and the fruit at first green, then red, and finally 
black when matured. 

History. — The Blackberry grows abundantly in most parts 
of the United States, in old fields, by the road-side, and on the 
borders of thickets, flowering from May to July, and maturing 
its fruit in August, The root is the part used, all varieties 
possessing similar medical properties. The bark of the old 
roots, or the smaller roots of the Dewberry and Blackberry 
should always be preferred, as the woody portion is inert. 
They impart their virtue to water, alcohol or Port-wine, and 
contain a large quantity of tannic acid, with bitter extractive 
matter. The fruit of tl ese plants is much esteemed as an 
article of diet, and has been manufactured into cordials, jam, 



48 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 



jelly and syrup. These contain volatile oil, citric and malic 
acid, sugar, mucilage, etc. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a shrub of Jupiter. An 
infusion or decoction of the leaves of the Raspberry, or of the 
bark of the roots of the other two, is an excellent remedy in 
diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera infantum, relaxed condition of the 
bowels of children, passive discharges of blood from the stom- 
ach, bowels or uterus, and in the colloquative diarrhoea of 
Consumption. The leaves of Raspberry in decoction with 
cream, will allay nausea and vomiting, and increase the activity 
of uterine contraction in child-labor, in instances where ergot 
has iailed. The decoction is used in leucorrhce i, and prolapsus 
uteri and ani. The fruit, especially that, of the Blackberry, 
makes an excellent syrup, which is of much service in 
dysentery, being pleasant to the taste, and mitigating the 
accompanying tenesmus, straining, bearing down, and pain or 
suffering of the patient, and ultimately effecting a cure. Ras- 
berry syrup, added to water, is a refreshing and beneficial 
beverage for fever patients, and during convalesence. 

Dose of the decoction, from a wine-glassful to a tea-cupful 
several times a day ; of the pulverized root bark, the dose is 
from twenty to thirty grains. A decoction of the Rose flowery 
Raspberry is a powerful diuretic, and may be used freely in 
dropsy, and urinary affections. 

BLACK COHOSH. Cimicifugia Racemosa. 

Description. — Black Cohosh is variously known as Rattleroot, 
Black Snake root, Squaw, root, is a tall, leafy, perennial herb, 
having a large, knotty root, with long, slender fibres, and a sim- 
ple, smooth, furrowed stem, from three to nine feet high, and 
bears a small, fetid flower. 

History. — It is a native of the United States, inhabiting 
upland woods and hill sides, and flowering from May to Au- 
gust. The root is the medicinal part. It contains a resin to 
which the names of Cimicifugia or Macrotire have been given; 
likewise fatty substances, starch, gum, tannic acid, etc. The 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 49 

leaves of Gimicifugia are said to drive away bugs, hence its 
name from cim } a bug, and fvgo, to drive away. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mercury influ- 
enced by Venus. It is a very active and useful remedy in 
many diseases. It is slightly narcotic,- sedative, antispasmodic, 
and exerts a marked influence over the nervous system. It is 
successfully used in cholera,~periodical convulsions, fits, epilepsy, 
nervous excitability, asthma, delirium tremens, and many 
spasmodic affections, and in Consumption, cough, acute rheuma- 
tism, neuralgia, and scrofula. Also, very valuable in amenorr- 
hcea, dysmenorrhea, and other menstrual and uterine affections, 
leurorrhcei, etc. The saturated tincture of the root, is a 
valuable embrocation in all cases of inflammation of the nerves, 
tic doloreux, crick in the back or sides, rheumatism, old ulcers, 
etc. It has an especial affinity for the uterus, and as it reduces 
very materially the arterial action, it is, hence, very useiul in 
palpitation of the heart, and cardiac affections generally. 

Dose. — Fluid extract, half a drachm to two drachms ; solid 
extract, four to eight grains. Of the tincture the dose is from 
one to three teaspoonsful. Of Gimicifugia the dose is from 
one to six grains. 

BLAZING STAR. Liatris Spicata. 

Description. — There are several varieties known by the 
name of Button Snake-root, Gay Feather, DeviVs Bit, etc. It 
his a perennial, tuberous root, and an erect, annual stem, from 
two to five feet in height. The flowers are of a bright blue 
color, one on from eight to twelve spikes. 

History. — All the above plants are splendid natives, and 
flowering through August and September. They all possess 
medical properties analagous to e;ch other. The roots are 
the officinal parts. They are all tuberous, with fibers, and have 
a hot, somewhat bitter taste, with considerable acrimony, and 
an agreeable turpentine odor. 

Government and Virtues. — They are under the government of 
Mars. They are diuretic, with tonic, stimulant, and emmena- 



50 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

gogue properties. A decoction is very efficacious in gonorrhoea, 
gleet, and diseases of the kidneys and bladder, in doses of from 
half a tea-cupful to a teacupful, three or four times a day. It 
is useful in Scrofula, Dysmenorrheas, Amenorrhcea, after-pains, 
etc. It is likewise of advantage as a gargle in sore throat, and 
as an injection in leucorrbcea. It is also celebrated for its 
alexipharmic powers in bites of snakes and other venomous 
creatures. 

BONESET. Eupatorium Perfoliatusl 

Description. — Boneset, or Thorough-wort, as it is called, 
is an indigenous perennial herb, with a horizontal crooked 
root ; the stems being round, stout, rough, and hairy, from one 
to five feet high, and the leaves very rough and veiny, and ta- 
pering to a long point ; the flowers white and very numerous. 

History. — Boneset grows in low grounds, on the borders of 
swamps and streams, throughout the United States, flowering 
in August and September. The tops and leaves are the parts 
used. It has a feeble odor, but a very bitter taste. Alcohol 
or boiling water extracts its medicinal properties. 

Government and Virtues. — This is a plant of Mercury. It 
is a very valuable medicinal agent. The cold infusion or ex- 
tract, is tonic and aperient, the warm infusion, diaphoretic and 
emetic. As a tonic, it is very useful in remittent, intermittent, 
and typhoid fevers, dyspepsia, and general debility. In inter- 
mittent fever a strong infusion as hot as can be comfortably 
swallowed, is administered for the purpose of vomiting freely. 
This is also attended with profuse diaphoresis, and sooner or 
later, by an evacuation of the bowels. During the intermission, 
the cold infusion, or extract is given every hour as a tonic and 
anti-periodic. In epidemic influenza, the warm infusion is 
valuable as an emetic and diaphoretic, likewise in febrile diseases, 
catarrh, colds, and wherever such effects are indicated. The 
warm infusion is also administered to promote the operation of 
other emetics. Externally, used alone, or in combination with 
hops or tansy, etc., a fomentation of the leaves applied to the 









THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 51 

bowels, is very useful in inflammation, spasms and oainful 
affections. 

Dose of the powder, from ten to twenty grains ; of the extract, 
from two to four grains ; of the infusion, from two to four 
wine-glassesful — [See the Remedy called the " Magic Assimi- 
lant? on page 279.] 

BURDOCK. Arctium Lappa. 

Description. — This plant is too well known to be described. 

Government and Virtues — Venus claims this herb. It is 
chiefly useful in prolapsus, keeping the womb in place. It is 
used for other diseases, but not with reliable results. 
BURNET. Pimpinella Saxifraga. 

Description. — This plant, called Pimpinella is too well known 
to require a description of it. It grows frequently in gardens, 
but the wild kind is ouly used for medicinal purposes. It flow- 
ers in July, and ripens the seed in August. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of the Sun, and 
thus very useful to preserve good health and spirits. Being of 
an astringent nature, a decoction is valuable in all manner of 
fluxes, bleedings, whites, etc. 

CALAMUS. Sweet Flag. Acorus Calamus. 

Description.— Calamus has a fleshy, thick, creeping, rather 
spongy rhizome, or root, with many long fibres. Tne rhizome 
is somewhat flat, jointed at intervals of half to oue inch, 
and is of a pale, greenish-white color externally. Tne leaves 
are long, erect, of a bright green, near an inch in width, some- 
what reddish below, and sheathing at their lower extremities. 
The stalk, like the leaves, are thicker below the spadix, and 
not quite so tall. The spadix is about three inches long, sessile, 
cylindrical, tapering, emerges laterally from its scape near its 
ceutre, and is covered with numerous, thick-set, small, jiale- 
green, or yellow flowers, which have no scent except when 
bruised. Sweet Flag is too well known to require any further 
description. 



52 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

History. — This perennial herb grows in all parts of the world, 
in damp or watery places, as sw snips, meadows, etc., and flow- 
ers from April to July. The rhizome is the part employed. 
It should be gathered in the montbs of October and November, 
cleansed of its fibres and dirt, and dried quickly in a room 
gently warmed. The dried roots of commerce are in compressed 
pieces, from three to six inches long, of a light brown or fawn 
color externally, whitish, or of a slight roseate hue internally, 
corrugated outside, and of a spongy or corky texture inter- 
nally. It has an agreeable, aromatic odor, and a peculiar, 
warm, bitterish taste. Water or alcohol takes up its medicinal 
virtues. The essential oil is lighter than water, and is pale 
yellow, very odorous and pungent. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of the 
Moon. The root is carminative, slightly tonic and excitant, 
and forms a useful adjunct in other tonics and stimulants. It 
may be used in cases of flatulant colic, dyspepsia, feebleness of 
the digestive organs, and to aid the action of bark or quinia 
in intermittent fevers. It forms an excellent substitute in 
syrup for Godfrey's cordial. Externally it is a valuable appli- 
cation to indolent ulcers, and to keep up the discharge from 
blistered surfaces and issues. 

It helps all lasks and fluxes, whether of blood or humors, as 
bleeding at the mouth, nose, or other parts ; bloody flux or dys- 
entery, and the immoderate flow of menstruation. The distilled 
water of the whole herb, flowers and roots is a sovereign good 
remedy for watering eyes, both to be dropped into them, and to 
have cloths or sponges wetted thereiu, and applied to the fore- 
head. The said water fomented is useful in swellings and 
inflammations of women's breasts ; also, in cancers, and those 
spreading ulcers called noli me tangere. An ointment made of 
the flowers is excellent for all foul external ulcers. 

Dose. — Of the infusion, (made by scalding fouf drachms of 
the root, coarsely bruised, in one piut of water,,) one to two 
wineglassesful. Of the Powdered root, one to two scruples. 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 53 

In flatulant colic of infants, one to two tea-spoonsful of tbe 
infusion. 

CELANDINE. Chelidoniuu Majus. 

Description. — This plant, sometimes known as Tetterwort, is 
an evergreen perennial, with a stem from one to two feet in 
height, branched, swelled at the joints, leafy, round and smooth; 
the leaves are smooth, spreading, very deeply pinn;tifid ; leaf- 
lets in from two to four pairs, from oue and a half to two and 
a half inches long and about two thirds as broad, the terminal 
one largest, all ovate, cuneately incised or lobed ; the lateral 
ones sometimes dilated at the lower margin, near the base, 
almost as if auricled ; color of all, a deep shining green ; the 
flowers are bright yellow, umbellate, on long, often hairy 
stocks. 

History.— Celandine, is a pale-s;reen, fleshy herb, indigenous 
to Europe and naturalized in the United States ; it grows along 
fences, by-roads, in waste places, etc., and flowers from May 
to October. If the plant be wounded, a bright yellow offen- 
sive juice flows out, which has a persistent, nauseus, bitter 
taste, with a biting sensation in the mouth and fauces. The 
root is the most intensely bitter part of the plant, and is more 
commonly preferred. Drying diminishes its activity. It yields 
its virtues to alcohol or water. 

Government and Virtues. — It is an herb of the Sun, and under 
the celestial Lion. It is stimulant, acrid, alterative, diuretic, 
diaphoretic, purgative and vulnerary. It is used internally in 
decoction or tincture, and externally in poultice or ointment, 
for scrofula, cutaneous diseases, and piles. It is likewise good 
in hepatic affections, or liver complaints, and exerts a special 
influenco on the spleen. As a drastic hydragogue, or purge, it 
is fully equal to gamboge. The juice when applied to the skin 
produces inflammations, and even vesications. It has long been 
known as a caustic tor the removal of warts ; it is also applied 
to indolent ulcers, fungous growths, etc., and is useful in remov- 
ing specks and opacities of the cornea of the eye. 



54 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Celandine is from the Greek word Chelidon, which signifies 
a swallow. The ancients assert that if you put out the eyes 
of young swallows when they are in the uest, the old ones will 
recover their eyes again with this herb. It is said that we may 
mar the apple of the bird's eye with a needle, and that the old 
birds will restore their sight again by means of this herb. Nev- 
er having made any such cruel experiments, I am not prepared 
to say whether any such miraculous power of healing loss of 
sight is a virtue of the plant, or whether it is an instinct or 
gift inherent of the swallow itself. 

Celandine is also used in curing salt-rheum, tetter, or ring- 
worm. It is superior to arnica as a vulnerary ; an alcoholic 
tincture of the root, (three ounces to a pint,) will be found an 
unrivalled application to prevent or subdue traumatic inflam- 
mations. Dose of the powdered root, from half a drachm to 
one drachm. Of the fresh juice, from twenty to forty drops, 
in some bland liquid. Of the tincture, from one to two fluid 
drachms. Of the aqueous extract from five to ten grains. 
CENTAURY. Sabbatia Angularis. 

Description. — This plant also called Rose Pink, has a yellow 
fibrous, biennial root, with an erect, smooth, quaudrangnlar 
stem, with the angles winged, having many opposite branches, 
and growing from one to two feet in height. The leaves are 
opposite, fine-veined, smooth, entire, from one to five inches iu 
length, and from half an inch to one aud a half inches wide, 
clasping the stem. The flowers are numerous, from an inch 
and a quarter to an inch and a half in diameter, of a rich rose 
or carnation color, standing, as it were, at the tops of one 
umbril or tuft, very like those of St. Johns wort, opening them- 
selves in the day-time, and closing at night, after whieii come 
seeds in little short husks, in forms like unto wheat corn. Tnere 
are three varieties of the Centaury in Eugland, one kind bearing- 
white flowers, another yellow, and another red. All have 
medicinal properties, although the American variety is consid- 
ered preferable to the European Centiury. 

History. — This plant is common to most parts of the United 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 55 

I States, growing in moist meadows, among high grass, on the 
prairies, ami in damp, rich soils, flowering from June to Septem- 
ber. The whole plant is used. It has a very bitter taste, and 
yields its virtues to water or alcohol. The best time for 
gathering it is during the flowering season. In England, they 
use the red Centaury in diseases of the blood, the yellow in 
choloric diseases, and the white in those of phlegm and 
water. 

Government and Virtues. — All the European and American 
varieties of the Centaury are under the dominion of the Sim, 
as it appears that the flowers open and shut as the Sun either 
shows or hides his face. It is used in all Fall periodic febrile 
diseases, both as a preventive and a remedy. It is also service- 
able as a bitter tonic in Dyspepsia, and convalesence from 
fevers. When administered in warm infusion it is a domestic 
remedy for worms, and to restore the menstrual secretion. 
Dose of the powder, from half a drachm to a drachm. Of the 
cold infusion, a tea-cupful every two or three hours. Of the 
tincture, a wine-glassful. Of the extract, from two to six 
grains. The decoction is also used to cleanse freckles, marks, 
and spots from the skin. 

CINQUE-FOIL. Potentilla Canadenses. 

Description. — This is a perennial plant, generally known by 
the name of Five finger grass. It has a stem from two to 
eighteen inches in length, the flowers are yellow. 

History. — Five-finger is common to the United States, grow- 
ing by road-sides, on meadow banks, and waste grounds, and 
flowering from April t3 October. The root is the part used. 
It has a bitterish, stiptic taste and yields its virtues to water. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter, and 
therefore strengthening to the body. It is tonic and astrin- 
gent. A decoction is useful in fevers, bowel complaints, night 
sweats, menorrhagia, and other hemorrhages. It makes an 
excellent gargle for spongy, bleeding gums, and ulcerated mouth 
and throat. 



56 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

CHAMOMILE. Anthemis Nobilis. 

Description. — This is a perennial herb, with a strong root 
having long fibres ; the stems are about a span long, branched, 
leafy, round, hollow, furrowed and downy $ the leaves pale 
green, and the flowers white. 

History — Chamomile is indigenous to Southern Europe ; we 
have also a common or wild Chamomile {Matricaria Cliamo- 
milla) growing in the United States, but it is not considered as 
good as the Roman Chamomile for medicinal purposes. The 
flowers only are used. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Saturn. Cham- 
omile is a tonic ; one or two tea-cupsful of the warm infusion 
will usually vomi\ The cold infusion is highly useful in dyspep- 
sia, and in all cases of weak or irritable stomachs, also in 
intermittent and typhoid fevers. The oil is carminative and 
anti-spasmodic, and is used in flatulency, colic, cramp in the 
stomach, hysteria, nervous diseases, and painful menstruation. 

Dose. — Half a drauhm to two drachms of the flowers. Of 
the infusion, half a tea-cupful to a tea-cupful. Of the oil, five 
to fifteen drops on sugar. [See " Magic Assimilanb? page 
279.] 

CHICK WEED. Stbllaria Media. 

Description. — This plant is the Alpine Media of Linn jsus, 
and too well known to require a description of it. 

History. — It is a common plant in Europe and America, 
growing in fields and around dwellings, in moist, shady places . 
It flowers from the beginning of Spring till the last of Autumn. 
The seeds are eaten by poultry and birds. The whole herb is 
used when recent. 

Government and Virtues. — Chickweed is a fine, soft, pleas- 
ing herb, under the dominion of the Moon. It is effectual as 
Purslain to all the purposes whereunto it serves, except for 
meat only. It is a cooling demulcent. The fresh leaves bruis- 
ed, and applied as a poultice to indolent, intractable ulcers, 
even when of many years standing, will produce most immediate 
and decided beneficial results, to be changed two or three times 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 57 

e day. The bruised leaves will likewise be found an invaluable 
application in acute opthalmia. An ointment made by bruising 
the recent leaves in fresh lard, may be used as a cooling appli- 
cation to erysipelitous and other forms of ulceration, as well as 
many forms of cutaneous disease. 

CHOCOLATE ROOT. Guem YinaixiANmi. Guem Rivale. 

Description. — Chocolate root, is also known as White Avens t 
Purple or water Avens, etc. The Purple Averts is a perennial, 
hairy, deep green herb, bearing a few, sub-globose, nodding, 
yellowish-purple flowers, standing on auxiliary and terminal 
peduncles. The White Averts is also perennial, and has rather 
smail, white, erect flowers, on long, diverging peduncles. 

History. — These plants, with other varieties, have long been 
used in domestic practice. The whole herb contains medicinal 
properties, but the officinal and most efficient part is the root. 
Boiling water or alcohol extracts their virtues. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of Jupiter. Is 
tonic and astringent. It is used in passive and chronic hemorr- 
hages, chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, leucorrhcea, dyspepsia, 
pulmonary affections, congestions of the abdominal viscera, etc. 

Dose of the powder, from twenty to thirty grains. Of the 
decoction, from two table-spoonsful to a wine-glassful, three or 
four times a day. 

CLEAVERS. Galium Aparixe. 

Description. — This plant has many common names, as Goose- 
grass, Catchweed, Bed straw, etc. It is an annual succulent 
plant, with a weak, procumbent, quandrangular, retrosely-prickled 
stem, which grows from two to six feet high, and is hairy at the 
joints. The leaves are one or two inches in length, and two or 
three lines in breadth, rough on the margin and tapering to the 
base. The flowers are white, small and scattered. 

History — .This plant is common to Europe and the United 
States, growing iu cultivated grounds, moist thickets, and along 
banks of rivers, and flowering from June to September. In 
the green state, the plant has an unpleasant odor ; but it is 

3* 



58 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

inodorous when dried, with an acidulous, astringent, and bitter 
taste. Cold or warm water extracts the virtues of the plant ; 
boiling water destroys them. The roots dye a permanent 
red. 

Government and Virtues - — It is under the dominion of the 
Moon. It is a most valuable refrigerent and diuretic, and will 
be found very beneficial in many diseases of the urinary organs, 
as suppression of urine, calculous affections, inflammation of the 
kidneys and bladder, and in the scalding of urine in gonorr- 
hoea. It is contra^ndicated in diseases of a passive character, 
on account of its refrigerant and sedative effects on the system, 
but may be used freely in fevers and all acute diseases. An 
infusion may be made by macerating an ounce and a half of 
the herb in a pint of warm water for two hours, of which, 
from two to four fluid ounces may be given three or four times 
a day when cold. It may be sweetened with sugar or 
honey. 

The infusion made with cold water, is also very beneficial in 
removing freckles from the face, likewise leprosy, and several 
other cutaneous eruptions ; the diseased parts must be washed 
with it several times a day, and continued for two or three 
months in cases of freckles. It has also been found useful in 
many cutaneous diseases, as psoriasis, eczema, lichen, cancer, 
and scrofula, and is more particularly useful in these diseases 
when they are combined with strumous diathesis. The best 
form for administration is that of the inspissated juice, which may 
be in one or two drachm doses three times a day. 

The plant called Small Cleavers, the Galium Tinctorium 
is nervine, anti-spasmodic, expectorant, and diaphoretic. It is 
used successfully in asthma, cough and chronic bronchitis, 
exerting its influence principally upon the respiratory organs. 
The plant has a pungent, aromatic, pleasant, persistent taste. 
A strong decoction of the herb may be given in doses of from 
one to four fluid ounces, and repeated two or three times a day, 
according to circumstances. The root of this plant will also 
dye a permanent red. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 59 

COCA. Erythroxylon Coca. 

Description. — I first became acquainted with this most 
remarkable plant, many years ago, while travelling in Bolivia, 
South America, in the beautiful valleys of the Cordilleras. The 
Coca is a bush which rarely attains six feet in height, and does 
not often exceed three. Its foliage is of a bright green, its 
flowers white, and its fruit small and red. When the plants are 
just about eighteen inches high they are transplanted from the 
seed beds into fields called cocales* The ripe leaves are gath- 
ered with the fingers. They are dried by spreading them in 
the sun, sometimes on woolen cloths. The operation requires 
great care, for the plant must be protected from all dampness, 
which changes its color, and thus diminishes its value. It is 
then packed in bags, weighing from fifty to one hundred and 
fifty pounds, which are often transported to great distances. In 
the Vice-royalty of Lima, in the latter part of the last century, 
Castelnau represents the consumption of the leaf, at three 
millions and a half of pounds, and worth one million and a 
quarter of Spanish dollars, while at the same time the total 
consumption in Peru was two millions and a half of dollars. 
The importance of the Coca trade, however, is diminishing as 
the Red Man disappears. The Iudians mix the Coca with a 
small quantity of lime, and constantly carry a small bag of it in 
all their excursions. They take it from three to six times a 
day. Dr. Gschudi [Travels in Peru, page 453,] mentions an 
Iudian of sixty-two years of age, who was employed by him, 
and though at very hard work for five days took no other nour- 
ishment, and rested but two hours of the night. Immediately, 
or soon after this, he accomplished a journey of one hundred 
miles in two days, and said that he was ready to do the same 
thing again if they would give him a new supply of Coca. 
Castelnau says he himself knew of instances as extraordinary 
In the time of the Incas the Coca was regarded as sacred. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of Jupiter, Its 
physiological actions are as follows : 

1. — It stimulates the stomach and promotes digestion. 



60 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

2. — In large doses it augments animal heat and accelerates 
the pulse and respiration. 

3. — It induces slight constipation. 

4. — In moderate doses, from one to four drachms, it stimu. 
lates the nervous system, so as to render it more tolerant of 
muscular fatigue. 

5. — In larger doses it gives rise to hallucinations and true 
delirium. 

6. — Its most precious property is that of inducing the most 
pleasant visions (" phantasmagoria?} without any subsequent 
depression of the nervous energies. 

T. — Probably it diminishes some of the secretions. 

The Coca has doubtless many other medical properties of a 
high order, and deserves further investigation. 

It stimulates powerfully the digestive functions, while at the 
same time it exercises a calmative influence over the mucus 
membranes of the stomach and bowels. In this double action 
upon the stomach — Stimulant and Calmative — it resembles 
Colomba. 

It is anti-spasmodic, and is of great service in many nervous 
disorders, and particularly in Spermatorrhoea, and all debilities 
of the generative organs. It is also an excellent dentrifice. 

An infusion of the leaves, or a tincture of the flowers, leaves 
and berries may be used in all cases of spermatorrhoea and 
nervous debility. Combined with other remedies it may be used 
with great advantage in Fevers, Pneumonia, Pleuritis, Neu- 
ralgia, Hysteria, Dysmenorrhoea, Amenorrhcea, Blenorrhceas, 
(including Gonorrhoea and Leucorrlicea,) Chorea, Epilepsy, 
Paralysis, after-pains, convulsions, dyspepsia, delirium tremens, 
chordea, and to expel worms. I have found the alcoholic tinc- 
ture of Coca alone, a positive specific in Spermatorrhea, 
seminal weakness, impotence, sterility, barrenness, nymphomania, 
satyriasis, etc., and now use it extensively for all such nervous 
disorders. It has never yet failed to meet my expectations — 
hundreds of such cases have been radically cured by its truly 
almost miraculous medical properties. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 61 

COLTSFOOT. Tussilago Farfara. 

Description. — This plant is also called Cough-wort, Foal's- 
foot, Horse Hoof, and BulVsfoot. It has a long, perennial, 
creeping, horizontal rhizoma or root, with many fibres. The 
leaves are heart-shaped, glaucous green above, pure white, and 
densely cottony with prominent veins beneath. The flowers are 
large and of a bright yellow* 

History. — This plant grows in Europe, the Crimea, Persia, 
Siberia, and the East Indies, from the sea-shore to elevations of 
nearly eight thousand feet. It also grows in the United States, 
in wet places, on the sides of brooks, flowering in March and 
April. Its presence is a certain indication of a clayey soil* 
The leaves are rather fragrant, and continue so after having 
been carefully dried. The leaves are the parts used, though all 
parts of the plant are active, and should always be employed, 
especially the leaves, flowers, and root. The leaves should be 
collected at about the period they have nearly reached their full 
size ; the flowers as soon as they commence opening ; and the 
root immediately after the maturity of the leaves. When dried, 
all parts have a bitter, mucilaginous taste, and yield their prop- 
erties to water or diluted alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under Venus. It 
is emollient, demulcent, and sligutly tonic. The decoction is 
usually administered in doses of from one to three or four fluid 
ounces, and is highly serviceable in coughs, asthma, hooping- 
cough and other pulmonary complaints; also useful in scrofula e 
The powdered leaves form a good errhine for giddiness, head- 
ache, nasal obstructions, etc. It is also used externally in form 
of poultice to scrofulous tumors. 

COMFREY. Symphytum Officinale. 

Description. — Comfrey has an oblong, fleshy perennial root, 
black on the outside and whitish within, containing a glutinous 
or clammy, tasteless juice, with divers very large, hairy green 
leaves lying on the ground, so hairy, or so prickly, that if they 
touch any tender parts of the hands, face or body, it will cause 
it to itch. The stalks are hollowed and cornered, very hairy, 



62 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

having leaves that grow below, but less and less up to the top ; at 
the joints of the stalk, it is divided into many branches, at the 
ends of which stand many flowers, in order one above another, 
which are somewhat long and hollow like the finger of a glove, 
of a pale, whitish color, after them come small black seeds. 
There is another sort which bears flowers of a pale purple color, 
having similar medicinal properties. 

History.— Comfrey is a native of Europe, but naturalized iu 
the United States, growing on low grounds and moist places, 
and flowering all Summer. The root is officinal and contains a 
lirge amount of mucilage, which is readily extracted by 
water. 

Government and Virtues. — This is an herb of Saturn, under 
the sign of Capricorn, cold, dry, and earthly in quality. The 
plant is demulcent, and slightly astringent. All mucilaginous 
agents exert an influence on mucus tissues, hence the cure of 
many pulmonary and other affections, in which these tissues 
have been chiefly implicated, by their internal use. Pnysicians 
must not expect a serous disease to yield to remedies which act 
on mucus membranes only ; to determine the true value of a 
medical agent, they must first ascertain the true character of 
the affection, as well as of the tissues involved. Again, muci- 
laginous agents are always beneficial in scrofulous and anaemic 
habits. Comfrey root is very useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, 
coughs, hemoptysis or bleeding of the lungs, and other pulmon- 
ary affections ; also leueorrhcea, and female debility : ail these 
being principally mucus affections. 

It may be boiled in water, wine, or made into a syrup, and 
taken in doses of from a wine-glassful to a tea-cupful of the 
preparation, two or three times a day. 

Externally the fresh root, bruised, forms an excellent appli- 
cation to bruises, ruptures, fresh wounds, sore breasts, ulcers, 
white swellings, etc. 

COSTMARY. Balsam Herb. 
Description. — This plant is an inhabitant of nearly every 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 63 

garden, and does not require to be botanically described. It 
flowers in June and July. , 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Ju» 
piter. It provokes urine abundantly ; purges choler and 
phlegm, cutting out that which is foul, tough, and glutinous, 
hinders putrefaction and corruption,, opens obstructions, and 
heals all diseased mucus tissues. It is good in cachexia, or 
wartings of the flesh, especially in the beginning of the disease. 
It helps evil, weak and cold livers, and comforts the bowels 
and stomach. The seed is given to children for worms, and so 
is the infusion of the flowers in whites, to the quantity of half 
a tea-cupful at a time. 

COWSLIPS, or Peagles. (Primrose.) 

Description. — Both the wild and the garden kind, are so 
well known that no description need be given of them. They 
flower in April and May. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus, under 
the sigu Aries. The flowers and leaves are used. The flow- 
ers are preferred. The distilled water or ointment, takes away 
spots and wrinkles of the skin, sunburns, freckles, adding beauty 
exceedingly, or restoring it when lost. 

HIGH CRANBERRY. Viburnum Opulas. 

Description. — It is a nearly smooth and upright shrub, or 
small tree, usually from five to twelve feet iu height, with 
several stems from the same root branched above, the leaves are 
three lobed, three veined, broadly wedged shape, and crenately 
toothed on the side. The flowers are white, or reddish white ; 
the fruit ovoid, red, very acid, ripens late, and remains upon the 
bush after the leaves have fallen. It resembles the common 
Cranberry, and is sometimes substituted for it. 

History. — It is indigenous to the northern part of the United 
States, aud Canadas, being a handsome shrub, growing in low 
rich lands, woods, and borders of fields, flowering in June, and 
presenting at this time a very showy appearance. The flowers 
are succeeded by red and very acid berries, resembling low 



64 • THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Cranberries, and which remain through the Winter. The bark 
is the officinal part, as met with in the drug stores. It is 
frequently put up by Shakers, when it is somewhat flattened 
from pressure. It has no smell, but has a peculiar, not unpleas- 
ant, bitterish, and astringent taste. It yields its properties to 
water or diluted alcohol. 

An active priuciple, called Viburnie, is in the market, but as 
its preparation is kept a secret, few physicians care to use it, 
not being willing to be imposed upon by speculating and design- 
ing: charlatans. 

Government and Virtues.— It is a plant of Jupiter. It is 
a powerful anti-spasmodic, and hence generally known among 
American practitioners as Cramp Bark. It is very effective in 
cramps and spasms of all kinds, as asthma, hysteria, cramps of 
females during pregnancy, preventing the attacks entirely if 
used daily for the last two or three months of gestation. 

The following forms an excellent preparation for the relief of 
spasmodic attacks, viz— Take of Cramp bark, two ounces ; 
scull-cap, skunk cabbage, of each, one ounce ; cloves, half an 
ounce ; capsicum, two drachms. Have all in powder, coarsely 
bruised, and add to them two quarts of sherry or native wine. 
Dose of this, half a wine-glassful two or three times a day. 

Dose. — Of the decoction, or vinous tincture one glassful two 
or three times a day. 

It may be here remarked that a poultice of the fruit of the 
Low Cranberry is very efficacious in indolent and malignant 
ulcers, malignant scarlet fever, applied to the throat, in erysipelas, 
and other similar diseases. Probably ihe High Cranberry will 
effect the same result. 

CRAWLEY. Corallorhiza Odontorhiza. 

Description. — This plant, also known by the various names 
of Dragon's Claw, Coral root, etc., is a singular, leafless plant, 
with much branched and toothed coral-like root stalks. The 
root is a collection of small, fleshy tubers, branched much like 
coral. The scape, is from nine to fourteen inches high— the flow- 



THE -COMPLETE HERBALIST. 65 

crs from tea to twenty, ruigent, in a long spike, of a brownish 
green color. 

History. The plaut is a native of the United States, grow- 
ing about the roots of trees, in rich woods from Maine to Florida, 
flowering from July to October. The entire plant is destitute 
of verdure. Tue root only is used for medicinal purposes. It 
is small, dark-brown, resembling cloves or a hen's claws, has a 
strong, nitrous smell, and a mucilaginous, slightly bitter, astrin- 
gent taste. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under the govern- 
ment of Jupiter. It is probably the most powerful, prompt, 
and certain diaphoretic in the Materia Medica, but its scarcity 
and high price prevents it from coming in general use. It is 
also sedative, and promotes perspiration without producing any 
excitement in the system. Its chief value is as a diaphoretic 
in fevers, especially in typhus, and inflammatory diseases. It 
has proved effectual in acute erysipehs, cramps, flatulency, pleu- 
risy, and night-sweats ; it relieves hectic fever without debilita- 
ting the patient. Its virtues are especially marked in the low 
stage of fevers. 

Dose. — From twenty to thirty grains of the powdered root, 
given in water as warm as the patient can drink, and repeated 
every hour or two, according to circumstances. The powder 
should always be kept in well closed vials. It, constitutes the 
" Fever Powders of some practitioners. 

Combined with Ca: ilophyllin it forms an excellent agent in 
amenorrhcea and dysmenorrhcea, or scanty or painful menstru- 
ation, and unsurpassed in after-pains, suppression of lochia, and 
and the febrile symptoms which sometimes occur at the parturi- 
ent period. 

Iu fevers, Crawley may be advantageously combined with 
lept tndrin or podophyllin, when it is found necessary to act upon 
the bowels or liver, and mixed with dioscorien it will be found 
almost a specific in flatulent and bilious colic. 

CROWFOOT. Rananculos Bulbosus. 

Description. — It has a perennial, solid, fleshy, roundish root, 



66 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

which sends up annually, several, erect, round, hairy, and branch- 
ing stems, from six to eighteen inches high ; the leaves are 
toothed and hairy. Each stem supports several solitary, golden- 
yellow flowers, upon farrowed, angular and hairy peduncles. 

History. — This plant is common in Europe and the United 
States, growing in fields and pastures, and flowering in May, 
June, and July. There are a great many varieties, but all 
possess similar properties, and designated by the general name 
of Butter-cap. When any part of these plants is chewed, it 
occasions much pain, inflammation, excoriation of the mouth, 
and much heat and pains in the stomach, if it be taken 
internally. 

Government and Virtues. — This hot and fiery herb is under 
the influence of Mars, and is too acrid to be used internally, 
especially when fresh.. When applied externally it is powerfully 
rubefacient and epispastic. The R. Bulbosa is the officinal 
plant. It is employed in its recent state, in rheumatic neuralgia, 
and other diseases where vessication and counter irritation are 
indica ed. Its action, however, is generally so violent, that it 
is seldom used. The beggars use it to produce and keep open 
sores to excite sympathy. It has been used with success in 
obstinate cases of nursing sore-mouth — an infusion being made 
by adding two drachms of the recent root, cut into small pieces, 
to one pint of hot water, when cold a tablespoonful being given 
two or three times a day, and the mouth frequently washed with 
a much stronger infusion. 

DAISY. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum. 

Description. — This plant generally known as the Ox-eye 
Daisy, is too well known to require a description. 

History. — This plant was introduced into the United States 
from Europe and is a very troublesome weed to farmers, in 
nearly every section. It generally grows from one to two feet 
higb, and bears white flowers in June and July. The leaves 
are odorous and somewhat acid ; the flowers are bitterish ; they 
impart their virtues to water. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under Venus, in the sign of 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 67 

Cancer. It is tonic, diuretic, and anti-spasmodic, and in large 
doses, emetic. It is used as a tonic; instead of Chamomile flow- 
ers, and is serviceable in hooping-cough, asthma, and nervous 
excitability. Very beneficial externally and internally in 
leuoorrhoea. Its internal use is highly recommended in colloqua- 
tive perspiration. Externally it is a good application to wounds, 
ulcers, scald-head, and some other cutaneous diseases. Dose 
of the decoction, from a wine-glassful to a teacupful, two or 
three times a day. The fresh leaves or flowers will destroy 
or drive away fleas. 

DANDELION. Taraxacum Deus-Leonis. 

Description. — Dandelion, (Nat. Ord. Cichoracaea,) is an 
herb, with a perennial, very milky root ; the leaves are spreading, 
numerous, and of a bright shining green ; the flowers are of a 
uniform golden-yellow, and in round heads an inch and a half 
in diameter, expanded in the morning and fine weather 
only. 

History. — This plant is a native of Greece, but is now found 
growing abundantly in Europe and the United States, in fields, 
gardens, and along road-sides, flowering from April to Novem- 
ber. The root only is the officinal part, and should be collected 
when the plant is in flower. Alcohol or boiling water extracts 
its properties. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Jupiter. The dried root possesses but little medicinal virtue ; 
but when fresh, is a stomachic, and tonic, with slightly diuretic 
and aperient actions It has long been supposed to exert an 
influence upon the biliary organs, removing torpor and engorge- 
ment of the liver as well as of the spleen, it is also reputed 
benefici al in dropsies owing to want of action of the abdominal 
organs, in uterine obstructions, chronic diseases of the skin, etc. 
Its virtues, however, are much over-rated. 

DEYIL'S BIT. Heloxnias Dioica. 
'Description. — This plant, also known by the names of False 
Unicorn-root, Drooping Star-wort, etc., is a herbaceous peren- 



68 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

nial, with a large, somewhat bulbous root, from which arises a 
simple, smooth stem, one or two feet in height. The flowers are 
small, very numerous, greenish-white, disposed, in long, terminal, 
nodding raceme, resembling plnmes. 

History.— This plant is indigenous to the United States, and 
is abundant in some of the Western states, growing in wood- 
lands, meadows and moist situations, and flowering in June and 
July. The root is the officinal part. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus, is tonic, 
diuretic, and vermifuge. In large doses, it is emetic, and when 
fresh, sialagogue. In doses of ten or fifteen grains of the 
powdered root, repeated three or four times a day, it has been 
found very beneficial in dyspepsia, loss of appetite, and for the 
removal of worms. It is beneficial in colic, and in atony of 
the generative organs. It is invaluable in uterine diseases, 
acting as an uterine tonic, and gradually removing abnormal 
conditions, while at the same time it imparts tone and vigor to 
the reproductive organs. Hence it is much used in leueorrhcea, 
amenorrhcea, dysmenorrhcea, and to remove the tendency to 
repeated and successive miscarriage. The plant will kill cattle 
feeding on it, and the decoction, insects, bugs, and lice. 

Dose of the powder, from twenty to forty grains ; of the 
decoction from a wine-glassful to tea-cupful. 

The Helonia Bullata, with purple flowers, and probably some 
other species possess similar medicinal virtues. 
DOCK. Rumex Crispus. 

Description. — There is a great variety of Dock, but all are 
too well known to require any description. 

Government and Virtues. — All Docks are under Jupiter. 
They are alterative, tonic, mildly astringent, and detergent, and 
eminently useful in scorbutic, cutaneous scrofulous, scirrhous, 
and syphilitic affections, leprosy, elephantiasis, etc. For these 
purposes, the Yellow Dock, Rumex Crispus is preferred. The 
fresh root bruised in cream, lard, or fresh butter, forms an 
excellent ointment for scrofulous ulcers, scrofulous ophthalmia, 
itch, and a discutient for indolent glandular tumors. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 69 

DRAGON ROOT. Arum Triphtllum. 

Description, — This plant is also known as Wake Robin, 
Indian Turnip, Jack in the pulpit, etc. It has a round, 
flattened, perennial, tuberous, fleshy root, resembling a turnip. 
The leaves are generally one or two, standing on long, sheathing 
footstalks, and the ovaries growing into a large, compact bunch 
of shining scarlet berries. 

History. — It inhabits North and South America, is found in 
wet locations, — and flowers from May to July. The whole 
plant is acrid, but the root is the only part employed. It is of 
various sizes, turnip-shaped, da:k and corrugated externally, 
and milk white within, seldom exceeding two and a half inches 
in diameter. When first dug it is too fiercely acrid for internal 
employment, as it will leave an impression upon the tongue, 
lips, and fauces, like that of a severe scald, followed by inflam- 
mation and tenderness, which, however, may be somewhat 
mollified by milk. It exerts no such influence upon the external 
skin, except upon long and continued application. The root 
loses its acrimony by age, and should always be used when 
partially dried. In addition to its acrid principle, it contains a 
large proportion of starch, with a portion of gum, albumen, 
and saccharine matter. When the acrid matter is driven off 
by heat, the root yields a pure, delicate, amylaceous matter, 
resembling arrow-root, very white and nutritive. 

Government and Virtues.-^ It is a plant of Mars, and is 
acrid, expectorant, and diaphoretic, used in asthma, hooping- 
cough, chronic bronchitis, chronic rheumatism, pains in the 
chest, colic, ow stages of typhus, and general debility ; externally 
in scrofulous tumors, scdd-head, and various skin diseases. 

Dose of the grated root, in syrup or mucilage, ten grains, 
three or four times a day. 

DRA GON'S TEST. Arum Triphyllum. 

Description. — This plant is recognized iu England, by looking 
down to the stalks, aud seeing how like a snake they look. 
Pliny and Dioscorides affirms that no serpent will meddle with 
any one who carries this herb about him. The English use it 



70 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

mixed with vinegar, as an external wash for freckles, niorphew, 
and sunburn, and as an ointment in wounds and ulcers. (See 
Dragon root.) 

DROPWORT. SpiRiEA FlLIPENDULA. 

Description. — This plant has many leaves, somewhat resem- 
bling Wild Tansey, or rather Agrimony. The root is small, 
black, and tuberous, from which arise one or two stalks, two 
or three feet high, spreading at the top into many white, sweet- 
smelling flowers, consisting of five leaves each, with some threads 
in the middle of them, standing together in a pith or umble, 
each upon a small foot-stalk, which, after they have been blown 
upon by the wind for some time, finally fall away, and in their 
places appear small, round, chaffy heads like buttons, wherein 
are 'the chaffy seeds set and placed. It grows at the hedge 
side and in dry fields and meadows, flowering in June and July, 
the seeds ripening in August. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant under the dominion 
of Venus. It is an effectual remedy for ail diseases of the 
lungs, shortness of breath, wheezing, hoarseness, cough, causing 
expectoration and cleansing the pipes of mucus or phlegm. It 
is also used in kidney and bladder diseases. 

ELDER. Sambucus Canadensis. 

Description. — This is a common, well-known, native American 
plant, from five to twelve feet high, with a shrubby stem, filled 
with a light and porous pith, especially when young. The bark 
is rather scabrous and cinereous. The leaves are nearly bifin- 
nate autiposed. The flowers are numerous, white, in very large 
level-topped, five-parted cymes, and have a heavy odor. The 
European Elder, though larger than the American kind, is 
similar in its general characteristics and properties. 

History. — It is an indigenous shrub, growing in all parts of 
the United States, in low, damp grounds, thickets, and waste 
places, flowering in Jane and July, and maturing its berries 
in September and October. The officinal parts are the flowers, 
the berries and the inner bark. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 71 

Government and Virtues — It is a plaut of Venus. In warm 
infusion the flowers are diaphoretic, and gently stimulant. In 
cold infusion they are diuretic, alterative, and cooling, and may 
be used in all diseases requiring such action, as in hepatic 
! derangements of children, erysipelas, erysipelatous diseases, etc. 
In infusion with ftaiden-hair and Beech-drops, they will he 
found very valuable in all erysipelatous diseases. The expressed 
juice of the berries, evaporated to the consistence of a syrup, 
is a valuable aperient and alterative, one ounce of it will purge. 
An infusion of the young leaf-buds is likewise purgative, and 
sometimes acts with violence. The flowers and expressed juice 
of the berries have been beneficially employed in scrofula, cuta- 
neous diseases, syphilis, rheumatism, etc. The inner green 
bark is cathartic ; an infusion of it in wine or the expressed 
juice will purge moderately, in doses from half a fluid ounce to 
a fluid ounce. Large doses produce emesis or vomiting. In 
small doses it produces an efficacious deobstruent, promoting 
all the fluid secretions, and is much used in dropsy, especially 
that following scarlatina, and other febrile and exanthemous 
complaints, as well as in many chronic diseases. Beaten up with 
lard or cream, it forms an excellent discutient ointment, and 
which is of much value in burns, scalds, and some cutaneous 
diseases. The juice of the root in half-ounce doses, taken daily, 
acts as a hydragogue, cathartic, and diuretic, and will be found 
valuable in all dropsical affections. The inner bark of Elder is 
hydragogue and emetico-cathartic. Has been successfully used 
j in Epilepsy, by taking it from branches one or two years old, 
' scraping off the gray outer bark, and steeping two ounces of it 
in five ounces of cold or hot water for forty-eight hours. Strain 
I and give a wineglassful every fifteen minutes w T hen the fit is 
! threatening : the patient fasting. Resume it every six or eight 
days. 

Off. Prep. — Unguentum Sambuci, Yinum Sambuci. 

ELECAMPANE. Inula Helenium. 
Description. — It has a branching, aromatic, and perennial root; 



a 



72 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

stem from four to six feet high ; large, dark-green leaves ; an 
larrre, bright-yellow flowers. 

History. — Elecampane is common in Europe, and cultivated 
in the United States. It grows in pastures, and along" road 
sides, blossoming from July to September. The root is the part 
used and should be gathered in the second year of its develop- 
ment, and during the Fall months. It yields its properties to 
water and alcohol, more especially to the former. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Mercury. It is aromatic, stimulant, tonic, emmenagogue, diu- 
retic and diaphoretic. It is much used in chronic pulmonary 
affections, weakness of the digestive organs, hepatic torpor, 
dyspepsia, etc. Dose of the powder, from one scruple to one 
drachm. Of the infusion, one to two fluid ounces. 

ERYNGO, or Sea Holly. Eryngium Aquaticum 

Description. — This plant, also called Button Snake root, 
Rattlesnakes Master, etc., is an indigenous perennial hero, with 
a simple stem, from one to five feet in height, the root is tuber- 
ous ; the leaves are one or two feet long, by half an inch to an 
inch and a half wide. The flowers are white or pale and 
inconspicuous. 

History. — This plant is indigenous, growing in swamps and 
low, wet lands, from Virginia to Texas, especially on prairie 
lands, blossoming in August. The root is the officinal part. 
Water or alcohol extracts its properties. 

Government and Virtues —It is a plant of Venus under the 
celestial Balance. It is aphrodisiac, exciting veneral desires 
aud strengtheing the procreative organs. It is also diuretic, 
stimulant, diaphoretic, expectorant, and in large doses, emetic. 
Very useful in dropsy, nephritic, and calculous affections, also 
in scrofula and syphilis. It is valuable as a diaphoretic and 
expectorant in pulmonary affections. It is a good substitute for 
Senega. The pulverized root in doses of two or three grains, 
is very effectual in hemorrhoids and prolapsus ani. Two ounces 
of the pulverized root, added to one pint of good Holland gin, 









i 






•a 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 73 

s effectual in obstinate cases of gonorrhoea and gleet, to be 
administered in doses of one or two fluid drachms, three or four 
Limes a day. By some practitioners the root is employed as a 
specific in gonorrhoea, gleet, and leucorrhcea ; used internally in 
syrup, decoction, or tincture — aud the decoction applied locally 
by injection. Used externally and internally, it cures the bites 
of snakes and insects. Dose of the powder, from twenty to 
forty grains : of the decoction, which is principally used, from 
two to four fluid ounces, several times a day. Off. Prep. 
Decoctum Eiyngii. 

EYEBRIGHT. Euphrasia Officinalis. 

Description. — This is an elegant, little auuual plant, with a 
square, downy, leaty stem, from one to five inches in height ; the 
leaves are opposite, downy, and ribbed ; tlie flowers are abuu- 
dmt, with a brilliant variety of colors. 

History. — This plant is indigenous to Europe and America, 
bearing red or white flowers in July. The leaves are commonly 
employed ; they are inodorous, but of a bitter, astringent taste. 
W ter extracts their virtues. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of the Sun, in the 
sign of the Lion. Slightly tonic and astringent. Useful in 
form of infusion or poultice, in catarrhal opthalmia ; also of 
service in all mucus diseases attended with increased discharges; 
also, in cough, hoarseness, ear-ache aud head-ache, which have 
supervened in catarrhal affections. Four fluid ounces of the 
infusion taken every morning upon an empty stomach, and 
also every night at bed-time, has been found successtul in 
helping epilepsy. 

FERN. Royal Flowering, Buckhorn Brake. 

OSMUNDA REGALIS. 

Description. — This beautiful Fern is found in meadows, and 
low, moisc grounds, throughout the Uuited States, blossoming 
in June. The main root or caudex is the officinal i art ; it is 
about two inches long, and has the shape of a buck's horn. It 
couiaius au abundance of mucilage, which is extracted by 

4 






74 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

boiling w .ter. The roots should be collected in .lugust, or about • 
the hitter part of May, aud dried with great care, as they are 
apt to become mouldy. 

The Osinunda, or cinnamon-colored Fern is inferior to the 
preceding, but is frequently used for the same medicinal 
purposes. 

Government and Virtues — Under the dominion of Mercury. 
Mucilaginous, tonic, and styptic. Used in coughs, diarrhoea, 
and dysentery ; also used as a tonic during convalescence from 
exhausting diseases. One roof, infused in a pint of hot water 
for half an hour, will convert the whole into a thick jelly, very 
valuable in leucorrhoei, and other female weaknesses. The mu- 
cilage mixed with brandy is a popular remedy as an external 
application for subluxations and debility of the muscles of the 
back. For internal use, the roots may be infused in hot water, 
sweetened, and ginger, cinnamon, brandy, etc., added, if not 
contra-indicated. 
FERN. Female. Common Polypody. Polypodium Vulgare. 

Description. — This plant is also known by the names of 
Rock polypod, Brake-root, etc. It is common on shady rocks, 
in woods and mountains. The root and tops are used in med- 
icine. Water extracts its properties. 

This plant is pectoral, demulcent, purgative, and anthelmintic. 
A decoction or syrup has been found very valuable in pulmonary 
and hepatic diseases. A strong decoction is a good purgative, 
and will expel tenia and other worms. Dose of the powdered 
plant, from one to four drachms. Of the decoction or syrup, 
from one to four fluid ounces, three or four times a day. 

Male Fern, (Aspidium Filix Mas,) grows in all parts of 
Europe, and in the United States. The dried root is the offici- 
nal part. It is used for the expulsion of the tapeworm. The 
best mode of administration is the etherial oil or extract, of 
which eighteen grains, or from ten to twenty-five drops may 
be given in the form of pill or emulsion, at night, and again in 
the morning. Two hours after the administration of the last 
dose, a purgative dose of castor oil is to be taken, and the 






THE COMPLETE HEBBALIST, To 

worm is discharged dead, without any severe or unpleasant 
symptoms . Dose of the powder, from one to four drachms. 
Of the ethereal tincture of the buds, eight to thirty drops, and 
f made by digesting one part of the buds in eight parts of 
ether. 

Sweet Pern, (Comptonia Asplenifolia) grows in thin, sandy 
soils, or dry, rocky woods, from Maine to Kentucky, blossoming 
in May. The whole plant is used, and imparts its virtues to 
water or alcohol. It is tonic, astringent, and alterative. Used 
in diarrhoea, dysentery, hemoptysis, leucorrhcei, rheumatism, 
debility succeeding fevers, and in rachitis. A decoction is very 
useful in the summer complaints of children, when given as an 
auxiliary. A pillow of the leaves is beneficial to rachetic child- 
ren, and may be used as a fomentation in contusions and 
rheumatism. 

Dose. — Of the decoction, from one to four fluid ounces, three 
or four times a day. The male and female Fern are not to be 
used by pregnant women. 

FEVER-FEW. Pyrethrum Parthenium. 

Description. — Fever-few is a perennial, herbaceous plant with 
a tapering root, and an erect, branched, leafy, round, furrowed 
stem, about two feet high, bearing white compound (lowers. 

History. — The plant is a native of Europe, but common in 
the United States, found occasionally in a wild state, but gen- 
erally cultivated in gardens, and blossoms in June and July. 
It imparts its virtu.es to water, but much better to alcohol. 

Govermnent and Virtues. — Venus controls this herb. It is 
tonic, carminative, emmenagogue, vermifuge, and stimulant. 
The warm infusion is an excellent remedy in recent colds, flatu- 
lency, worms, irregular menstruation, hysteria, suppression of 
urine, and in some febrile diseases. In hysteria, or flatulency 
one teaspoonful of the compound- spirits of 1j vender forms a 
valuable addition to the dose of the infusion, which is from two 
to four fluid ounces. The cold infusion or extract, makes a 
valuable tonic. The leaves in poultice are an excellent local 
application in severe pain or swelling of the bowels, etc. Bees 



76 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

are said to dislike this plant very much, and a handful of the 
flower-heads carried where they are, will cause them to keep 
at a distance. 

PIG-WORT. Scrophula&ia Nodosa. 

Description. — Figwort has a perennial, whitish, tuberous, 
and knotty root, with a heavy stem, from two to four feet high, 
and small, ovoid, dark-parple flowers. 

History. — This plant is a native of Europe, but is found 
growing in different parts of the United States, in woods, 
hedges, damp copses, and banks, blossoming from July to 
October. The plants known by the names of Carpenter's square , 
Heal All, Square stalk, etc., ( 8. Marilandica and S. Lanceolata,) 
are all mere varieties of Figwort, possessing similar medicinal 
properties. The leaves and root are the officinal pirts, and 
yield their virtues to water or alcohol. The leaves have an 
offensive odor, and a bitter, unpleasant taste ; the root is 
slightly acrid. 

Government and Virtues. — It js a plant of Venus. It is 
alterative, diuretic, and anodyne ; highly beneficial in hepatic 
or liver diseases, dropsy, and as a general deobstiuent to the 
glandular system when used in infusion or syrup. Externally 
in the form of fomentation, or ointment, it is valuable in bruises, 
inflammation of the mammas, ringworm, piles, painful swellings, 
itch, and cutaneous eruptions of a vesicular character. The 
root in decoction and drank freely, will restore the lochial dis- 
charge when suppressed, and relieve the pains attending difficult 
menstruation. This plant possesses many valuable and active 
medicinal properties. Dose of the infusion or syrup, from a 
wine-glassful to a tea-cupful. 

FLEA-WORT. Plantago Pysllium. 
Description. — It has a white, hard, woody root, that perishes 
every year, from which arises a stalk two or more feet high, 
full of joints and branches, with narrow, whitish-green leaves. 
At the top of every branch stands divers small, short, scaly or 
chaffy heads, out of which come forth small, sweetish, yellow 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 77 

threads, like those of the plantain herb, which are the bloomings 
of flowers ; the seed enclosed in these heads is small and shining 
while it is fresh, and very like etjlea both for color and size, but 
turning black when it grows old. It grows in gardens and 
fields and blossoms in July and August. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Saturn, cold, dry, 
and saturnine. The mucilage of the seed, made with rose-water 
and a little honey, helps hoarseness, and other diseases of the 
lungs, throat and breast. 

FROST- WEED. Helianthemum Canadexse. 

Description. — This is a perennial herb, sometimes known by 
the names of Rock-rose and Frost Plant. It h is a simple, 
downy stem, about a foot high, and shrubby at the base. The 
leaves are about two-thirds of an inch long, and about one-fourth 
as wide. The flowers are large and of a bright yellow, open 
in sunshine and cast their petals the next day. 

History. — It is indigenous to all parts of the United States, 
growing in dry, sandy soils, and blossoming from May to July. 
The leaves and stems are covered with a white down ; hence 
its name. The whole plant is officinal, having a bitterish, 
astringent, slightly aromatic taste, and yields its properties in 
hot water. 

Government and Virtue?. — It is a plant of Venus. It has 
effected some astonishing cures in scrofula. It is used in the 
form of decoction, syrup, or fluid extract. In too large doses 
it will cause vomiting. It is tonic, and astringent as well as 
anti-scrofulous. 

In secondary syphilis, either alone, or in combination with 
Corydalis Formosa, and Siillingia, it forms a most valuable 
remedy. 

The decoction may be employed with advantage in diarrhoea, 
as a gargle in scarlatina, and aphthous ulceration, as a wash in 
scrofulous opthalmia, prurigo and other cutaneous diseases. 
Externally, a poultice of the leaves is applied to scrofulous 
tumors and ulcers. 



78 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

The fluid extract is the best form for internal use. Pose, one 
or two tea spoonsful, three or four times a day. 

An oil has been procured from the plant which is said to be 
highly valuable in cancerous affections. 

GENTIAN. Gentiana Lutea. 

Description. — This plant has a long, thick, cylindrical, 
wrinkled, ringed, forked, perennial root, brown externally, and 
yellow within, with a stem three or four feet high, hollow, stout, 
and erect ; leaves ovate-oblong, five-veined, pale, bright green : 
the blossoms are large, of a bright yellow, in many flowered 
whorls. 

History. — This plant is common in Central and Southern 
Europe, especially the Pyrenees and Alps, being found from 
3000 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea. The root affords 
the medicinal portion, and is brought to America, chiefly from 
Havre and Marseilles. It has a feeble aromatic odor, and a 
taste at first faintly sweetish, and then purely, intensely and 
permanently bitter. It imparts its virtues readily to cold or 
hot water, alcohol, wine, spirits, or sulphuric ether. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. Is a pow- 
erful tonic, improves the appetite, strengthens digestion, gives 
force to the circulation, and slightly elevates the heat of the 
body. Very useful in debility, exhaustion, dyspepsia, gout, 
amenorrhea, hysteria, scrofula, intermittents, worms, and 
diarrhoea. 

Dose of the powder, ten to thirty grains. Of the extract, 
one to ten grains. Of the infusion, a tablespoonfui to a wine- 
glassful. Of the tincture, one or two teaspoonsful. 

Uuchrystallized Gentianin is a most valuable substitute for 
quinia, acting as readily and efficaciously on the spleen, in doses 
of from fifteen to thirty grains, twice a day. 

The Blue, or American Gentian, has a perennial, branching, 
somewhat fleshy root, with a simple, erect, rough stem, eight or 
ten inches in height, and bears large blue flowers. It grows in 
the grassy swamps and meadows of North and South Carolina, 
blossoming from September to December. The root is little 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 79 

inferior to the foreign Gentian, and may be used as a substitute 
for it in all cases, in the same doses and preparations. 

The Five flowered Gentian sometimes called Gall- weed, on 
account of its intense bitterness, is very useful in headache, liver 
complaint, jaundice, etc. The plant is found from Vermont to 
Pennsylvania, and a variety of it is common throughout the 
Western states. It grows in woods and pastures, and flowers 
in September and October. It may be regarded as a valuable 
tonic and cholagogue, and deserves further investigation of its 
therapeutic properties. 

There is another kind of Gentian, {Gentiana Ochroleuca,) 
known by the names of Marsh Gentian, Yeliowish-whire Gen- 
tian, Straw-colored Gentian, and Sampson Snake-weed. It has 
a stout, smoothisb, ascending stem, one or two inches in height, 
its leaves two to four inches long, and three-fourths to an inch 
and a half in width, with straw-colored flowers two inches long 
by three-quarters thick, disposed in a dense, terminal cyme, and 
often in auxiliary cymes. It is found in Canada, and the South- 
ern and Western states, though rarely in the latter, blossoming 
in September and October ; the root is the officinal part, although 
the tops are often employed. They are bitter, tonic, anthel- 
mintic and astringent. Used in dyspepsia, iatenmtteucs, 
dysentery, and all diseases of periodicity. 

To two ounces of the tops and roots pour on a pint and a 
half of boiling water, and when nearly cold, add a half pint of 
brandy. Dose from one to three tablespoonsfui every half hour, 
gradually increasing as the stomach can bear it, lengthening 
the intervals between the doses. It is also used for bites of 
snakes, etc. 

GERANIUM. Geranium Maculatum. 

Description — Geranium, also known by the names of Dove's 
Foot, Cranesbill, Wild Cranebill, Spotted Geranium, Crow- 
foot, Alum Root, etc., has a perennial, horizautal, thick, rough, 
and knobby loot, with many small fibres. The stems are 
grayish-g'een, erect, round, and a foot or two high. The leaves 
are spreading aud hairy ; and the blossoms large, and generally 



80 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

purple, mostly in pairs. The Dove's Foot, or Cranebill, which 
grows in England, is a different plant, bearing many small 
bright- red flowers, of five leaves a-piece, though it possesses 
medicinal properties similar to the American varieties. 

History. — Geranium is a native of the United States, grow- 
ing in nearly all parts of it, in low grounds, open woods, etc., 
blossoming from April to June, The root is the officinal part. 
Its virtues are yielded to water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Mars. 
It is a powerful astringent, used in the second stage of dys- 
entery, diarrhcei, and cholera infantum, in infusion, with milk 
Both internally and externally it may be used wherever astringents 
are indicated, in hemorrhages, indolent ulcers, aphthous sore 
mouth, opthalmia, leucorrhoea, gleet, hematuria, monorrhagia, 
diabetes, and excessive chronic mucus discharges ; also to cure 
mercurial salivation. Relaxation of the uvula may be benefitted 
by gargling with a decoction of the root, as well as aphthous 
ulceration of the mouth and throat. From its freedom from any 
nauseous or unpleasant qualities, it is well adapted to infants and 
persons with fastidious stomachs. In cases of bleeding piles, a 
strong decoction of the root should be injected into the rectum, and 
retained as long as possible. Troublesome epistaxis, or bleeding 
from the nose, wounds, or small vessels, and from the extraction 
of teeth, may be checked effectually by applying the powder to 
the bleeding orifice, and if possible, covering with a compress of 
cotton. With Aletus Farinosa, (Unicom root) in decoction, 
and taken internally, it has -proved of superior efficacy in diabetes 
and in Bright/s disease of the kidneys. A mixture or solution 
of two parts of Hydras' in and one of Geranium, will be found 
of unrivalled efficacy in all chronic mucus diseases, as in gleet, 
leucorrhoea, opthalmia, gastric affections, catarrh, and ulceration 
of the bladder, etc, A decoction of two parts of Geranium 
and one of Sanguinaria (Blood-wort,) forms an excellent injec- 
tion for gleet and leucorrhoea. 

Dose of Geranium powder, from twenty to thirty grains j of 
the decoction, a table-spoonful to a wine-glassful. 



the complete herbalist. 81 

GOLDEN" SEAL. Hydrastis Canadensis. 

Description — This is an American plant, known by the 
various names of Yellow Pitccoon, Ground Raspberry ;, Tumeric 
root, etc. It has a perennial root, or rhizome, \vhich is tortuous, 
knotty, creeping*, internally of a bright-yellow colour, with nu- 
merous long fibres ; the stem is erect, simple, rounded, from 
six to twelve inches high, bearing two unequal terminal leaves ; 
the flower is solitary, terminal, small, white or rose colored, and 
on a peduncle about three inches in length. 

History. — Golden seal is found growing in shady woods, in 
rich soils and damp meadows, in different parts of the United 
St-ites and Canada, but is more abundant west of the Alleg- 
hanies. It flowers in May and June. The root is the officinal 
part. Its virtues are imparted to water or alcohol. The root 
is of a beautiful yellow color, and when fresh is juicy, and used 
by the Indians, to color their clothing, etc. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter. The 
root is a powerful tonic, at the same time exerting an especial 
influence upon the mucus surfaces and tissues, with which it 
comes in contact. Internally, it is successfully administered in 
dyspepsia, chronic affections of the mucus coats of the sro n- 
ach, -erysipelas ; remittant, intermittent, and typhoid fevers ; 
torpor of the liver, and whenever tonics are required. In some 
instances it proves laxative, but without any astringency, and 
seems to rank in therapeutical action between rhubarb and blood- 
root. 

A strong decoction of two parts of Golden Seal, and one part 
of Geranium or Crauebill, is very valuable in gleet, chronic 
gonorrhoea and leucorrhce t, used m injection. It is likewise of 
much benefit in i?icipient stricture, spermatorrhea, and incarna- 
tion and ulceration of the internal coat of the bladder. Ulcera- 
tion of the internal coat of the bladder, may be cured by the 
decoction of Golden Seal alone. Ir must be injected into the 
bladder, and held there as long as the patient can conveniently 
retain it — to be repeated three or four times a day, immediately 
after emptying the bladder. 



82 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

Dose of the powder from ten to thirty grains ; of the tincture 
from one to two fluid drachms. 

GOLD THREAD. Corns Trifolia. 

Description.— This plant, also termed Mouthwool, has a small 
and creeping, perennial root, of a bright yellow color. The 
stems are round, slender, and invested at the base with a 
number of ovate, acuminate, yellowish scales. The leaves are 
ternate, on long, slender petioles, evergreen. It usually bears 
one small, white, starry flower, terminating in capsules, contain- 
ing small, black, oval seeds. 

History. — Goldthread is found growing in dark swamps, and 
sphagnous woods, in the northern parts of the United States, 
and in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Siberia. It flowers 
early in the Spring to July. The root is the medicinal part, 
and Autumn is the season for collecting it. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter. Is a pure 
and powerful bitter tonic, somewhat like quassia, gentian and 
Colombo, without any astringency. It may be beneficially used 
in all cases where a bitter tonic is required, and is decidedly effi- 
cacious as a wash or gargle, when a decoction, in various ulcera- 
tions of the mouth. In dyspepsia, and in chronic inflammation 
of the stomach, equal parts of gold-thread, and golden seal, made 
into a decoction, witn elixir vitriol, added in proper quantity, 
will not only prove effectual, but in many instances will per- 
manently destroy the appetite for alcoholic beverages. 

Dose. — -Of the powder or tincture, from half a drachm to a 
drachm, of the decoction the dose is from one wineglassful to 
a teacupful. The tincture, made by adding an ounce of the 
powdered root to a pint of diluted alcohol, is preferable to the 
powder. The dose is from twenty drops to a teaspoonful, three 
times a day. 

HAZEL WITCH. Hamamelis Virginica. 

Description. — This is an indigenous shrub, sometimes called 
Winter -bloom, Snapping hazel nut, Spotted Alder, etc., It con- 
sists of several crooked branching trunks from the same root, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 83 

from four to six inches in diameter, ten to twelve feet in height, 
and covered with a smooth grey bark. The leaves are from 
three to five inches long, and two-thirds as wide. The flowers 
are yellow, and three or four together. 

History. — It grows in damp woods, in nearly all parts of the 
United States, flowering from September to November, when the 
leaves are falling, and maturing its seeds the next summer. The 
barks and leaves are the parts used in medicine. They possess 
a degree of fragrance, and when chewed are at first somewhat 
bitter, very sensibly astringent, and then leave a pungent 
sweetish taste, which remains for a considerable time. Water 
extracts their virtues. The shoots are used as divining rods 
to discover water and metals under ground by certain adepts in 
the occult arts. 

Government and Virtues. — This is a plant of Jupiter. It is 
tonic, astringent and sedative. A decoction of the bark is 
very useful in hemoptysis, hematemesis, and other hemorrhages 
or bleediugs, as well as. in diarrhoea, dysentery, and exces- 
sive mucus discharges. It is employed with great advantage in 
incipient phihisis, or consumption, in which it is supposed to 
unite anodyne influences with its others. 

The Indians use it in the form of poultice, in external infla- 
mations, swellings and all tumors of a painful character. 

The decoction may be advantageously used as a wash or 
injection for sore mouth, painful tumors, external inflammations, 
bowel complaints, prolapsus ani and uteri, leucorrhoea, gleet, 
and opthalmia. 

An Ointment made with lard, and a decoction of white-oak 
bark, apple tree bark, and witch-hazel, is a very valuable 
remedy for hemorrhoids or piles. 

The following forms a useful preparation : Take equal parts 
of witch-hazel bark, golden seal, and lobelia leaves, the two 
first made into a strong decoction, after which add the lobelia to 
the hot liquid, and cover ; when cold, strain. This decoction, 
as a collyrium will frequently and speedily cure the most obsti- 
nate and long standing cases of opthalmia. 



84 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Dose of the witch-hazel decoction alone, from a wine glassful 
to a teaeupfnl, three or four times a day. 

HELLEBORE AMERICAN. Yeratrum Yiride. Swamp 
Hellebore, Indian Poke, Itch-zceed. 

Description. — Tnis plant is indigenous to the United States 
growing in many parts, usually in swamps, low-grounds, moLst 
meadows, and on the banks of mountain streamlets. The stems 
is from three to five feet high, roundish and solid throughout, 
the greatest part of its length being invested with the sheathing' 
bases of the leaves The lower leaves being from six inches to 
afoot long, and half as wide, gradually narrowing towards the 
top of the plant, the flowers green and numerous. 

History. — The rhizome or root is the part used, which should 
be gathered in Autumn, after the decay of the leaves. As \% 
rapidly loses its virtues it should be gathered annually and 
kept in well-closed vessels. When fresh, it has a very strong,, 
unpleasant odor, but when dried is inodorous. It has a sweetish- 
bitter taste, succeeded by a persistent acridity. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter. It has 
many very valuable properties. It is slightly acrid, confining 
this action to the mouih and fiuces. It is unsurpassed by any 
article as an expectorant. As a diaphoretic, it is one of the most 
certain of the whole Materia Medica, often exciting great 
coolness and coldness of the surface. Iu suitable doses it can be 
relied upon to bring the pulse down from a hundred and fifty 
beats in a minute to forty, or even to thirty. Sometimes it ren- 
ders the skin merely soft and moist, and at others produces free 
and abundant perspiration. In fevers, in some diseases of the 
heart, acute rheumatism, and in many other conditions which 
involve an excited state of the circulation, it is of exceeding great 
value. As a deobstruent or alterative, it far surpasses iodine, and 
therefore used with great advantage in the treatment of cancer,, 
scrofula and consumption. It is nervine, and never narcotic,, 
which property renders it of great value in all painful diseases,. 
or such as are accompanied with spasmodic action, convulsions, 
morbid irritability and irritative mobility, as ia chorea, epilepsy, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 85 

or fits, pneumonia, puerperal fever, neuralgia, etc., producing 
these effects without stupifying and torpifying the system u$ 
opium is known to do. As an emetic, it is slow, but certain and 
efficient, rousing the liver to action, and vomits without occa- 
sioning prostration or exhaustion, like other emetics, being the 
more valuable in not being cathartic. It is peculiarly adapted 
as an emetic in hooping-cough, croup, asthma, scarlet fever, and 
in all cases where there is much febrile or inflammatory action. 
As an arterial sedative it stands unparalleled and unequalled, 
while in small doses it creates and promotes appetite beyond 
any agent known to medical men. It has recently come into 
use, and may be justly regarded as one of the most valuable 
contributions to the list of medicines in a hundred years. 

Dose. — Veratrum is usually giyen in the form of a tincture, 
the formula being of the dried root, eight ounces to sixteen 
ounces diluted .835 alcohol, macerating for two weeks, then to 
be expressed and filtered. To an adult eight drops are given 
which should be repeated every three hours, increasing the dose 
one or two drops every time, until nausea or vomiting, or reduc- 
tion of the pulse, to sixty-five or seventy, ensue, then reduce to 
one half in all cases. Females and persons from fourteen to 
eighteen, should commence with six drops, and increase as above* 
For children, from two to five years, begin with two drops, 
and increase one drop only. Below two years of age, one drop 
is sufficient. If taken in so large a dose as to produce vomiting 
or too much depression, a full dose of morphine or opium, in a 
little brandy or ginger, is a complete antidote. In pneumonia, 
typhoid fever, and many other diseases, it must be Continued 
from three to seven days after the symptoms have subsided. 
In typhoid fever, while using the veratrum, quinia is abso- 
lutely inadmissable. It is administered in a little sweetened 
water, and its employment in moderate doses, or short of nau- 
sea, may be continued indefinitely without the least inconve- 
nience. 

HOARHOUND. Marrubium Yulgare. 

Description.— This well known herb, has a fibrous, perennial 



86 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

root and numerous annual, bushy stems, leafy, and branching 
from the bottom to one or two feet in height. The leaves are 
roundish-ovate, rough and veiny above, woolly on the under sur- 
face, one or two inches in diameter ; the flowers small and 
wl*ite. 

History. — Honrhound is a native of Europe, but has been 
naturalized in the United States, where it is very common. It 
grows on dry, sandy fields, waste grounds and road-sides, 
flowering from June to September. The entire plant has a 
white or hoary appearance ; the whole herb is medicinal, and 
should be gathered before its inflorescence. It has a peculiar, 
rather agreeable, vinous, balsamic odor, and a very bitter, aro- 
matic, somewhat acrid and persistent taste. Its virtues are 
imparted to alcohol or water* . 

Government and Virtues.— -It is an herb of Mercury. A 
stimulant, tonic, expectorant and diuretic. It is used in the form 
of syrup, in coughs, colds, chronic catarrh, asthma and all 
pulmonary affections. The warm infusion will produce perspi- 
ration, and flow of urine, and is used with great benefit in 
jaundice, asthma, hoarseness, menses, and hysteria. The cold 
infusion is an excellent tonic in some forms of dyspepsia. It will 
expel worms and act as a purgative in large doses. It enters 
into the composition of several syrups and candies. 

Dose of the powder one drachm, of the infusion or syrup, 
from half to a teacupful. 

HOPS. HUMTJLUS Lupulus. 

Description. — This plant is too well known to require any 
particular description. It has a perennial root, with many annu;»l f 
angular stems. The leaves are deep*green, serrated, veiny and 
very rough ; and the flowers numerous and of a greenish color. 

History. — This plant is found in China, the Canary Islands^ 
all parts of Europe, aud in many places in the United States. 
It is largely cultivated in England and the United States 
for its cones or strobiles, which are used medicinally, and in 
the manufacture of beer, ale and porter. Tr.e odor of hops is 
peculiar and somewhat agreeable; their taste slightly astringent 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 87 

and exceedingly bitter. They yield their virtues to boiling 
water, but a better solvent than water is diluted alcohol. Lupu- 
lin is the yellow powder procured by beating or rubbing the 
strobiles, and then sifting out the grains which form about one- 
seventh part of the Hops. Lupulin is in globose kidney-shaped 
grains, eroldeu yellow and somewhat transparent and preferable 
to the Hops itself. Lupulite is the bitter principle of Hops, 
and is obtained by making an aqueous solution of Lupulin. 

Government and Virtues. — -The plant or vine is under the 
dominion of liars. Hops are tonic, hypnotic, febrifuge, anti- 
lithic and anthelmintic. They are principally used for their 
sedative or hypnotic action — -producing sleep, removing restless- 
ness and abating pain, but sometimes failing to do so. A 
pillow stuffed with Hops is a favorite way for obtaining sleep. 
The lupulin or its tincture, is used in delirium tremens, ner- 
vous irritation, anxiety, exhaustion, and does not disorder the 
stomach nor cause constipation, as with opium. It is also 
useful in after-pains, to prevent chordee, suppress venereal desires, 
etc. Externally, in the form of a fomentation alone, or com- 
bined with Boneset or other bitter herbs, it has proved bene- 
ficial in pneumonia, pleurisy, gastritis, enteritis, and as an appli- 
cation to painful swellings aud tumors. An ointment, made by 
boiling two parts of Stramonium leaves and one of Hops in 
lard, is an excellent application in salt rheum, ulcers and pain- 
ful tumors. It is a powerful antiphrodisiac, composing the 
genital organs, quieting painful erections in gonorrhce t, etc. 

Dose. — Fluid extract, half a drachm to a drachm ; solid ex- 
tract, five to twenty grains ; tincture (two and a half ounces of 
hops to one pint of alcohol,) three to six drachms. Infusion, 
(four drachms to one pint of hot water) a wineglass to a cup- 
lul of Lupulin, the dose six to ten grains. Tinct. of Lupulin, 
(two ounces of Lupulin to one pint of alcohol) one to two tea- 
spoonsful in sweetened water. Fifteen to twenty grains well 
rubbed up with white sugar in a mortar is very efficacious in 
priaprism, chordee, and spermatorrhoea. 



88 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

ICELAND MOS-S. Cetraria Islandica. 

Description. — Iceland Moss is a perennial, foliaceous plant 
from two to four inches high ; a native of Britaiu and the northern 
countries of Europe, particularly Iceland. It is diversified in 
its color, being brownish or greyish-white in some parts, and of 
a reddish hue in others. It is without odor, with a mucilaginous, 
bitter, somewhat astringent tnste, and when dry, the lichen is 
crisp, cartilaginous, and coriaceous, and is convertible into a 
grayish- white powder. It swells up in water, absorbing more 
than its own weight of that fluid, and communicating a portion 
of its bitterness to it, as well as a little mucilage; when long 
chewed it is converted into a mucilaginous pulp, and when 
boiled in water the decoction becomes a firm jelly oa cooling. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Moon. It 
is d'jmulcent, tonic and nutritious. Used us a demulcent in 
chronic catarrh, chronic dysentery, and diarrheal, and as a 
tonic in dyspepsia, convalesence and exhausting diseases. B jiled 
with milk it forms an excellent nutritive and tonic in phthisis 
and general debility. Its tonic virtues depend upon its cetrarin, 
which, if removed, renders the lichen merely nutritious. 
ICE-PLANT. Monotropa Uniflora. 

Description. — This plant, also known by the uames of Ova* 
ova. Bird's Nest, Indian Pipe, Fit Plant, etc., has a dark 
colored, fibrous, perennial root, matted in masses about as large 
as a chestnut burr, from which arise one or more short, ivory- 
white stems, from four to eight inches high, having white, 
semi-transparent leaves, and a large, white, solitary, terminal 
flower, which is at first nodding, but becomes upright in fruit. 

History. — This singular plant is found from Maine to Cali- 
fornia, and westward to Missouri, growing in shady, solitary 
woods, in rich, moist soil, or soil composed of decayed wood 
and leaves, and near the base of trees, on whose roots it may 
be said to be a parasite. The whole plant is snow-white or 
ivory-white, resembling frozen jelly, and is juicy and tender, 
dissolving in the hands like ice. The flowers are inodorous, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 89 

and appear from June until September. The flowers are in 
shape like a pipe, hence called the Indian Pipe, or Pipe Plant. 
The root is the medicinal part, and should be gathered in Sep- 
tember and October, carefully dried, pulverized, and kept in 
well-stopped bottles. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of the Moon. It is 
a tonic, sedative, nervine, and anti-spasmodic ; employed in 
febrile diseases, restlessness, pains, nervous irritability, etc., and 
used as a substitute for opium without any deleterious influences. 
It has cured remittent and intermittent fevers, and is an excellent 
anti-periodic. It is a most excellent remedy in convulsions of 
children, epilepsy, chorea, and other spasmodic affections. Its 
prompt efficacy well entitles it to its common name, Fits, or 
Convulsion Root. The juice of the plant alone, or combined 
with rose water, is an excellent application in obstinate opthal- 
mia, or sore or inflamed eyes, ulcers, etc., and is a good injection 
in leucorrhcea, blennorrhea, inflammation, and ulceration of the 
bladder. 

Dose of the powdered root, from thirty to sixty grains, two 
or three, times a day. 

This plant is one of great value, and is beginning to receive 
the attention it deserves. It is a totally different herb from toe 
Mesemhryanthemum CrystaUinwn, or Ice-plant of Europe. 
IRON-WEED. Yernonia Fasciculata. 

Description. — This is an indigenous, perennial, co rse, pur- 
plis :-green weed, with a tall, grooved stem, from three to ten 
feet in height. It is very common in the Western states, 
growing in woods and prairies, and along river streams, having 
purple flowers from July to September. The root is the part 
used. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of Venus. It is a 
bitter tonic, deobstruent, and alterative. In powder or decoc- 
tion, the root is beneficial in amenorrhcea, dysmenorrhcea, 
leiicorrlicea, and menorrhagia. It is useful in scrofula and soaie 
cutaneous diseases. Dose of the decoction, one or two fluid 
ounces. Of the tincture, one or two fluid drachms. The leaves 



90 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 



or powdered root make an excellent discutient application to 
tumors. 

IVY, (AMERICAN.) Ampelopsis Quinquefolh. 
Description.— This is a woody vine, with a rooting, climbing 
stem, with large, durk, glossy, green leaves, which make a lux- 
uriant foliage, turning crimson in Autumn. It blossoms in 
July, the flowers being in clusters of an inconsxicuous greenish 
white. Its berries are first dark bine, smaller than peas, of an 
acid taste, but ripening into blackish berries from October to 
Christmas. 

History.— The American Ivy, is a common, familiar, shrubby 
vine, climbing extensively, and, by means of its radiating 
tendrils, supporting itself firmly on trees, stone walls, churches' 
etc., and ascending to the height of from fifty to a hundred 
feet. In various sections of the country it has different names 
as Wood-bine, Virginia Creeper, Five Leaves, False Grape 
Wild Wood Vine, etc. The bark and the twigs are the parts 
usually used. Its taste is acrid and persistent, thou-h not 
unpleasant, and its decoction is mucilaginous. The barkshonld 
be collected after the berries have ripened. It is like the Ivy of 
England and other countries. 

Government and Virtues—It is under the dominion of 
Saturn. Alterative, tonic, astringent, and expectorant It is 
used principally in form of syrup in scrofula, dropsy, bronchitis 
ana other pulmonary complaints. 

Dose -Of the decoction or syrup, from one to four table- 
spoonsful, three times a day. 

A drachm of the flowers drank in wine, will stop the bloody 
flux or dysentery. The berries bruised and steeped in wine 
for a few days, and a small quantity drank is good against the 
jaundice, hemorrhage or spitting of blood, gravel, and to pro- 
voke urine. An old author affirms that there is a very great 
ant.pathy between wine and Ivy, and therefore it is a remedy 
to preserve against drunkenness, and to relieve or cure intoxi- 
cation by drinking a draught of wine in which a handful o< 
bruised Ivy leaves have been boiled 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 91 



! 

JESSAMINE. Gelseminum Sempervirens. 

Description. — This plant is sometimes called Yellow Jessa- 
mine, Wild Jessamine, and Woodbine, and bears yellow flowers 
which have an agreeable, but rather narcotic odor. The 
Yellow Jessamine abounds throughout the Southern States, 
growing luxuriously, and climbing from tree to tree, forming an 
agreeable shade. On account of its fine yellow flowers, and the 
rich perfume which they impart to the surrounding atmosphere, 
as well as the shade it affords, it is extensively cultivated in 
the ga-dens of the South, as an ornamental vine. The flowers 
appear from March to May. The root is the officinal part, and 
yields its virtue to water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter, It is 
an unrivaled febrifuge, possessing relaxing and antispasmodic 
properties. It is efficacious in nervous and bilious headache, 
colds, pneumonia, hemorrhages, leucorrhea, ague-cake, but espe- 
cially in all kinds of fevers, quieting all nervous irritability and 
excitement, equalizing the circulation, promoting perspiration, 
and rectifying the various secretions, without causing nausea, vo- 
miting and purging, and is adapted to any stage of the disease. 
It may follow any preceding trea r ment with safety. Its effects 
are clouded vision, double-sightedness, or even with complete 
prostration, and inability to open the eyes. These however, pass 
completely off in a few hours, leaving the patient refreshed, and 
completely restored. When the effects are induced no more of 
the remedy is required. 

The tincture is the form in which it is employed. The dose 
is from ten to fifty drops, in a wine glass half full of water ; to 
be repeated every two hours. The second dose usually effects 
a cure. 

JUNIPER. Juniperus Communis. 

Description. — The Juniper is a small evergreen. It does not 
reach the dignity of a tree ; but it is hardy and extremely 
useful. 

History. — The Juniper grows in dry woods, and upon hills, 



92 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

and is common both in this country and in Europe. The ber- 
ries are employed most extensively in medicine. 

Government and Virtues. — Toe Juniper is under the do- 
minion of Venus. The berries and oil are stimulating, carmina- 
tive, and diuretic. It is especially useful in averting mucus 
discharges, especially from the urethra. 

Dose. — Of the berries, from one to two drachms. Of the oil 
from four to twenty minims. 

KIDNEY LIVER LEAF. Hepatica Americana. 

Description. — This is a perennial plant, the root of which 
consists of strong fibres. The entire plant is used. 

History. — There are two varieties of this plant, and both are 
common to the United States. They grow upon elevated 
situations, and in woods. They bear white, blue, or purplish 
flowers, which appear late in March or early in April. It is 
sometimes erroneously called Liverwort. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Herschel. It is a mild, mucilaginous astringent, and is freely 
used in infusion, in fevers, diseases of the liver ; and for bleeding 
from the lungs, coughs, etc., it is a most valuable curative. 

Dose. — Infusion taken ad libitum. 

LADIES SLIPPER. Cypripedium Pubescens. 

Description. — This is an indigenous plant known as American 
Valerian, Nerve Boot, Yellow Moccasin Flower, Umbel, Noah's 
Ark, etc., with perennial, fibrous, fleshy, undulated or crooked 
long roots. The stems grow from twelve to eighteen inches 
high. 

History — This plant grows here in rich woods and meadows, 
and flowers in May and June. There are several varieties of it, 
but as they all possess the same medicinal properties a description 
of each is not requisite or desirable. 

Government and Virtues. — These plants are governed by th^ 
dog-star Sirius. The fibrous roots are the parts used in medi- 
cine, and they should be gathered and carefully cleansed in 
August, or September. The properties and uses are various. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 93 

The preparations made from these roots are tonic, and stimulant, 
diaphoretic, and anti-spasmodic, and are considered to be 
unequalled in remedying hysteria, chorea, nervous head iche, and 
all cases of nervous irritability* Combined with a certain foreign 
plant of a mucilaginous character, and growing near the sea 
shore, it is an unfailing cure of fever and ague. The preparation 
has, however, to be skilfully compounded. Any one afflicted 
by Fever and Ague may write to me for particulars, and I will 
gladly and promptly furnish them. They are also used for delirium, 
neur lgia, and hypochondria. The form of preparation is. an 
alcoholic extract* 

. Dose. — From ten to twenty grains. Tincture, from one to 
three fluid drachms. Infusion, from one to four fluid ounces. 
When made into powder, one drachm in warm water is a dose, 
and may be repeated, in season, as ofcen as may be required. 

LARCH. Abies Larix. 

Description.— -The Larch is a very lofty and graceful tree, 
with elegant and wide-spreading branches. The flowers, both 
m ile and female, are handsome as well in form as in color. 

History— The Larch grows in the mountainous regions of 
Europe, and yields the article of use aud commerce known as 
Venice Turpentine. The bark contains a large amount of 
tannic acid. 

Government and Virtues— It is governed by Mars. The 
medicinal properties are those known to be confined to turpentine. 

LARGE -FLOWERING- SPURGE. Euphorbia Corollata. 

Description.— This plant is commonly known as the milkweed. 
It is perennial, with a round, slender, erect stem, one or two feet 
high, generally simple and smooth. The flowers are large, 
white and showy. 

History. — This plant grows plentifully in Canada and the 
United States, in dry fields and woods, and flowers from June 
to September. The bark of the root is the part used. Tue 
plant is readily detected by a milky fluid which exudes from the 
stem, when that is broken. This fluid, if applied to warts or 



94 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

wens, is of great benefit, in most cases banishing the offensive 
excresences. 

Gocernment and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mercury. It is 
emetic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and epispastic. As an emetic, 
the powdered bark of the root (say from fifteen to twenty grains) 
is mild, pleasant and efficacious. 

Dose. — As an expectorant it is administered three grains a'c 
a time, mixed with honey, molasses, or sugar. As a cathartic, 
from four to ten grains are required. It is regarded, in doses 
of fifteen or twenty grains, as one of the very best remedies 
ever discovered for the dropsy. It has cured hydrothorax, and 
ascites, when all other means have failed, but in order to do 
this, it must be carefully and skilfully prepared by a botanist of 
much experience. 

LARKSPUR. Delphinium Consolida. 

Description. — Larkspur is an annual herb, with a simple 
slender root, and a suberect leafy stem, from a foot to two feet 
in height. 

History. — The Larkspur is a native of Europe, but has 
become naturalized in America. It grows in fields and 
woods, -and flowers in July. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Saturn. The whole plant contains an acid principle which is 
sure death to all kinds of domestic vermin. The flowers and 
leaves were extensively used in the United States army during 
the rebellion, to kill lice, and it is pretty well authenticated that 
the same substance forms the basis of the many preparations 
offered for the destruction ot all noxious insects, whose room is 
better than their company. The flowers are emraenagogue, 
diuretic, and vermifuge. A tinc.ure of the seeds, it is said, 
will cure asthma and dropsy. Also a specific for cholera 
morbus. 

Dose. — Two ounces of the seed added to one quart of diluted 
alcohol, makes the tincture, of which ten drops may be given 
three times a day. This, however, should be used only in 
extreme cases. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 95 

SHEEP LAUREL. Kalmia Latifolia. 

Description. — This plant has numerous names. Among 
o hers, Laurel, Lambkill, Ivy, Sjioonivood, Calico Bush, 
Mountain Laurel, etc. It is a shrub of great beauty, varying 
in height from four to sixteen feet. It has crooked stems and 
a rough bark. The flowers are white, or variously tinged with 
red, and are very showy. The fruit is a dry capsule. 

History. — Sheep Laurel inhabits the rocky hills and elevated 
grounds of most parts of the United States. Its beautiful 
flowers appear in Juue and July. The leaves are reputed to be 
poisonous to sheep and other animals, and it is said that birds 
which have eaten them will poisou those who eat the birds. 
The leaves are the officinal part. Attention was called to their 
medicinal virtues by the use which the Indians make of them, 
viz. : a decoction by which they commit suicide. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mercury. The 
plant, in medicinal doses, is anti-syphilitic, sedative to the heart, 
and somewhat astringent. It is a most efficient agent in 
syphilis, fevers, jaundice, neuralgia, and inflammation. The 
preparation should be used with great care and prudence. 

Dose. — The saturated tincture of the leaves is the best form 
of administration. It is given in from ten to twenty drops every 
two or three hours. Powdered leaves, from ten to twenty 
grains. 

LAVENDER. Lavandula Yera and Lavandula Spica. 

Description. — Lavandula Vera is a shrub which grows from 
one to two feet high, generally, but it sometimes attains an 
altitude of from five to six ieet. Lavandula Spica is rather 
dwarfish in comparison. It is not used in medicine, but yields 
what is called oil of spike, whica is used in the preparation of 
artistical varnishes. 

History. — Lavandula Vera grows in the dry soils of Southern 
Europe, and flowers in July and August. It is largely cultivated 
in this country. The whole plant is aromatic, but the flowers 
are the parts used. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the government of 



96 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Mercury. It is a tonic, stimulant, and carminative, useful 
mostly in diseases of the nervous system. 

THE LEMON. Citrus Limonum. 

Description. — The Lemon tree is an evergreen, and grows as 
high as twenty feet. The flowers are middle-sized, white, 
purple externally, odoriferous, and somewhat similar to those of 
the orange. 

History. — The Lemon tree is of Asiatic origin, and is culti- 
vated largely in the West Indies. It is grown somewhat 
extensively in conservatories here, but its United States 
cultivation amounts to literally nothing. All lemons, which form 
all that is used in medicine, are imported. 

Government and Virtues. — 1 he Lemon tree is under the 
dominion of Mercury. The juice of the. fruit is tonic, refriger- 
ating, and anti-scorbutic. It is, in rea lily, the purest of citric 
acid, and as such is most valuable in cases of fever. It is most 
useful, also, in the treatment of scurvy. 

Dose. — In scurvy, from four to six ounces a day will effect a 
cure. From one to two ounces taken daily will prevent scurvy. 
Four or five t ible-spoousful taken daily, will sometimes euro 
rheumatism. 

LETTUCE. Lactuca Sativa, and Lactuca Virosa. 

Description. — Garden Lettuce possesses very many of the 
properties of opium, and, if allowed to run to seed, produces, 
or exudes, a juice not unlike that of the poppy. It grows in 
almost every temperate latitude. The Lactuca Yirosa, another 
species ot Lettuce, is a hardier aud larger plant, is rank in 
odor, and has prickles on the keel of its leaves. 

History. — The Lactuca Sativa, or common garden Lettuce, is 
a native of the East Indies, but has been so thoroughly accli- 
mated here that it may be said to belong to this country by 
naturalization. It, as well as the Lactuca Virosa,yields large 
quantities of what is called Lactucarium, or Lettuce Opium. 

Government and Virtues. — The Lettuce is under the dominion 
of Venus. Some good authorities say that Lactucarium is a 
sedative, others, equally reliable, that it is a stimulant. It is 



^ 









THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 97 

frequently used in the stead of opium, as it produces tbe same 
effects, without the unpleasant and oftentimes ruinous reaction 
which follows the use of the juice of the poppy. 

Dose. — In pill or powder, from five to tweuty grains ; of the 
tincture, thirty to sixty drops ; of the alcholic extract from one 
to five grains, as circumstances may require. 

LEVER WOOD. Ostrya Virginica. 

Description. — This sum 11 tree, from twenty-five to thirty feet 
in height, is frequently called Iron Wood, and Hop Hornbean. 
Its real name is, however, Lever Wood. The wood, which is 
hard, white, and strong, is used for medicinal purposes, as well 
as the bark. 

History. — -The inner wood and bark are the parts in which 
reside the curative virtues, and the latter, which are immense, 
readily yield to water. The tree flowers in April and May, and 
is common to the United States. 

Government and Virtues. — The Lever Wood tree is under 
the influence of Sirius. The bark and wood should be gathered 
in August or September. The preparation is anti-periodic, 
tonic, and alterative. It is very good in cases of intermittent 
fever, neuralgia, nervous debility, scrofula, and dyspepsia. It 
is sometimes administered, with fair success, as a remedy for 
fever and ague. 

Dose. — Decoction, one or two fluid ounces three or four times 
a day. 

LIFE ROOT. Senecio Aureus. 

Description. — This plant has many names. Among others, 
it bears the titles of Ragwort, False Valerian, Squaw-weed, 
Golden Senecio, and Female Regulator. The flowers are 
golden yellow. The stem is erect and smoothish, varying from 
one to two feet in height. 

History. — The plant is perennial and indigenous, growing on 
low marshy grounds, and on the banks of creeks. The northern 
and western parts of Europe are where it is mostly found, and 
the flowers culminate in May and June. The root and herb 
are the parts employed for medicinal purposes. There are 



98 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

several varieties of this plant, but a3 all possess the same 
medicinal properties, it is unnecessary to specify them. The 
whole herb is used of all the varieties. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Saturn. It is diuretic, pectoral, diaphoretic, and tonic, and 
exerts a very powerful and peculiar influence upon the repro- 
ductive organs of females. This has given it the name of 
Female Regulator. Combined with the Lily, and other native 
and foreign plants, it is one of the most certain cures in the 
world, for aggravated cises of leucorrhea ; also in cases of 
menstrual suppression. It will operate excellently in gravel, 
and other urinary affections. * 

Dose. — Ordinary decoction. 

LILY ROOT (MEADOW.) Lilium Candidal 

Description. — This plant has a perennial root or bulb, from 
which rises a thick stem from three to four feet in height. The 
flowers are large, snow-white, and common. 

History. — The Meadow Lily is an exotic. It is a native of 
Syria and Asia Minor. The flowers are regarded as being very- 
beautiful, but are not used for medicinal purposes. The plant 
is principally cultivated for the flowers. The bulb is the part 
used for its curative properties. Water extracts its virtues. 

Government and Virtue?. — It is under the dominion of Venus. 
It is mucilagenous, demulcent, tonic, and astringent. It is 
chosen by some of our best botanical practitioners as a certain 
remedy for leucorrhea, and falling of the womb, and for these 
affections, when combined with Life Root and other herbal 
preparations, is without an equal. Sometimes the recent root is 
used to advantage in dropsy. Boiled in milk, it is also useful 
for ulcers, inflammations, fever-sores, etc. I prepared from these 
plants, together with several others of English growth, an 
injection for leucorrhea, which proved speedily and eminently 
successful, in one of the most severe c ises that ever came to my 
knowledge. The patient was Mrs. Atkins, of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts. Should any of my lady readers be afflicted by any 
of the above complaints, I should be pleased to have them write 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 99 

to me all *tbe particulars of their cnse, and according to the 
description, and the extent of the affliction, I will make and 
send at a reasonable price, an injection and tonic pill, which 
will be peculiarly and particularly adapted to the individual 
case. 

LION'S FOOT. Nabulus Albus. 

Description — This plant is known in some parts of the 
country as Rattlesnake Boot. It is an indigenous, perennial 
herb, with a stout stem, and from two to four feet in height. 
There are several varieties, but they vary indifferently. 

History. — This pi mt grows plentifully in moist woods and 
in rich soils, from New England to Iowa, and from Canada to 
Carolina. The root, leaves, and juice of the plant are employed. 

Government and Virtues. — It is governed by the dog-stir. 
A decoction of the root taken internally wiH operate most 
favorably in cases of dysentery. The milky juice of the plaut 
is taken internally, while the leaves, steeped in water, are 
applied as a poultice (and frequently changed) for the bite of 
a serpent. 

LOBELIA. Lobelia Inflata. 

Description. — This plant is pretty generally known as 
Indian Tobacco, although it is called Wild Tobacco by some. 
It is an annual or bieunial, indigenous plant (mare commonly 
the latter,) with a fibrous, yellowish white root, and an erect, 
angular, very hairy stem, much branches, and from six inches to 
three feet in height. The flowers and seeds are very prolific. 

History. — Lobelia flowers from July to November, and grows 
in nearly all parts of the United States in fields, woods and 
meadows. The whole plant is active, and the stalks are used 
indiscriminately with the flowers and leaves, by those who are 
best acquainted with its properties. The root is supposed to be 
more energetic, medicinally, than any other part of the plant. 
The proper time for gathering is from the last of July to the 
middle of October. The plant should be dried in the shade, 
and then be preserved in packages, or covered vessels, more 
especially if it be reduced to powder. It was used in domestic 



100 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

practice by the people of New England long before the time of 
Samuel Thompson, its assumed discoverer. 

Government and Virtues, — The Lobelia is under the govern- 
ment of Herschel. Administered internally, it is emetic, 
nauseant, expectorant, relaxant, sedative, anti-spasmodic, and 
secondarily cathartic, diaphoretic and astringent. It is exten- 
sively used to subdue spasms, and will give relief in epilepsy, 
tetanus, crimps, hysteria, chorea, and convulsions ; but it is 
merrly a temporary relief when administered internally, and if 
not used with great skill and caution in that way, mny do as 
much harm as good. Applied externally, in the form of an 
ointment, combined with healing and soothing barks and roots, 
it is decidedly the best counter-irritant known to mankind. In 
this shape, its equal has never been discovered, and probably 
never will be. This is one of the ingredients of "The Etherial 
Ointment," a full description of which will be found on page 
297 of this work. There are any number of officii nal prepa- 
rations of Lobelia, but it is the opinion of the author of this 
book that its chief value consists in being made into an ointment, 
with other rare and potent ingredients. There is nothing in 
nature that can favorably compare with it in this form. In 
other shapes it may be useful ; but it is also dangerous. 

LUNGWORT. Pulmonaria Officinalis. 

Description. — The plant is rough, with a stem about one foot 
in height. The flowers are blue, and in terminal clusters. 

History.-^ Lungwort is a herbaceous perennial, growing 
in Europe and this country, in Northern Latitudes. In Europe 
it is a rough-leaved plant, but in this country the entire plant 
is smooth, which exhibits the peculiar climatic influence. It is 
showy, and freely cultivated. It flowers in May. The leaves 
are used for medicinal purposes. They are witnout any 
particular odor. Water extracts their properties. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Mercury. The preparation is demulcent and mucilaginous, and 
is a decoction very useful in bleeding from the lungs, and 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 101 

bronchial and catarrhal affections. For further particulars I 
refer the reader to the second paragraph on page 2$i. 

MADDER. Rubia Tinctorum. 

Description. — Madder has a perennial, long, cylindrical root, 
abouc the thickness of a quill. This is the part used, chiefly for 
its coloring matter. 

Hidory. — Madder is a native of the Mediterranean, and 
Southern European countries. The drug is chiefly impoited 
from Holland and France. The root is collected in the third 
year of the plant, when it is freed from its outer covering and 
dried. It is valued as a dye stuff for its red and purple. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mercury. It is 
sometimes used to promote the menstrual and urinary discharges, 
but is not in very great favor. Combined in a preparation with 
other ingredieuts, it is of some considerable remedial value. 

Dose. — Thirty grains three or four times a day. If used 
frequently, it will color the bones red. 

MAD DOG WEED. Alisjia Plantago. 

Description. — This plant is sometimes denominated Water 
Plantain, but its proper name is that which stands at the head 
of this paragraph. It is a perennial. Tue flowers are small, 
white, whorled and numerous. The root is fibrous. 

Hidory. — It inhabits the North American continent as well 
as Europe, grows in watery places, and flowers in July. The 
leaves are the parts used. 

Government and Virtues. — It is , under Mercury. It was 
once considered a capital remedy for hydrophobia, hence its 
name ; but experience has demonstrated that as a cure for this 
horrible infliction, it is impotent. In urinary diseases and 
affections, an infusion of the leaves, which must be dried and 
powdered, is very efficacious. 

Dose. — Of the infusion above mentioned, from four to six 
fluid ounces three or four times a day. The fresh leaves wheu 
bruised, form a very good but mild counter-irritant. 



102 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

MAIDENHAIR. Adiantum Pedatum. 

Description. — Maidenhair is a delicate and beautiful fern, 
growing from twelve to fifteen inches high. 

History.— Maidenhair is perennial, and grows throughout the 
United States in deep woods, on moist, rich soil. The leaves 
are bitterish and somewhat aromatic, and part with their 
virtues upon beiug immersed in bo/iling water. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus. It is 
refrigerant, expectorant, tonic, and sub-astringent. A decoction 
of this plant is most gratefully cooling in febrile diseases, and 
it is a great benefit in coughs, catarrh, hoarseness, influenza, 
asthma, pleurisy, etc. It is one of the articles of many used 
in making the "Acacian Balsam," for a description of which 
see page 285. ■' 

MAGNOLIA. Magnolia Glauca. 

Description. — The Magnolia is called by other names, such 
as Swamp Sassafras, Sweet Magnolia, Beaver Tree, White Bay, 
etc. It grows from six to thirty feet in height, obtaining a 
larger altitude the further south it is found. It has smooth 
and ash-colored bark, elegant, odoriferous, cream-colored 
flowers, and can be found in morasses from Massachusetts to 
the Gulf of Mexico. It flowers from May to August. There 
are other varieties w T hich do not require especial mention, or 
especial description. 

History. — The therapeutical virtues of these trees are 
found in the bark and fruit. The bark of both the trunk and 
the root are employed. The odor is aromatic, and the taste 
bitterish, warm and pungent. It is gathered during the Spring 
and Summer. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. The 
bark is an aromatic, touic bitter, and \% also anti-periodic. It 
is used much in the stead of chinchona, and will remedy the 
intermittent fevers when chinchona has failed. It is used 
frequently as a substitute for Peruvian Bark, as it can be 
continued for a longer time and with more safety. Properly 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 103 

prepared, it may be used as a substitute for tobacco, and will 
bre )k the habit of tobacco chewing. 

Dose. — In powder, half drachm or drachm doses five or six 
times a day. The infusion is taken in wine-glassful doses five 
or six times a day. The tincture, made by adding two ounces of 
the cones to a pint of brandy, will be found beneficial in dyspepsia 
and chronic rheumatism. 

COMMON MALLOW. Malva Sylvestris. 

Description. — This herb is perennial, and is sometimes called 
High Mallow. It has a round stem, two or three feet high, 
and a tapering, branching, whitish root. The leaves are alter- 
nate, deep green, soft and downy. 

History. — The mallow is a native of Europe, but is naturalized 
in this country. It grows abundantly in fields, waysides,, and 
waste places, and flowers from May to October. The whole 
plant, especially the root, abounds in mucilage. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under the dominion 
of Mercury. It possesses the properties common to mucila- 
ginous herbs, and an infusion thereof forms an excellent 
demulcent in coughs, irritations of the air passages, flux, 
affections of the kidney and bladder, etc. In inflammatory 
conditions of the external parts, the bruised herb forms an 
excellent application, making, as it does, a natural emoliient 
cataplasm. 

MANDRAKE. Podophyllum Peltatum. 

Description. — The Mandrake is called by the several names 
of May Apple, Wild Lemon, Racoon berry, and Wild Man- 
drake. It is indigenous, and is a perennial. The stem is simple, 
round and smooth — the leaves are large. The flower is solitary 
in the fork of the stem, is white, large, and about two inches 
in diameter. The fruit is fleshy, of alemoL color, with brownish 
spots when ripe. 

History. — The Mandrake is found throughout the United 
States, in low, shady situations, rich woods and fields, and 
flowers in May and Juue. The fruit matures in September and 
October. It is scarcer in New England than elsewhere. The 



104 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

leaves are poisonous. The root, properly prepared, is used for 
medicinal purposes. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Mars. 
The root is cathartic, emetic, alterative, anthelmintic, hydra- 
gogue and sialagogue. It is an active and certain cathartic, 
being equal, if not superior, to jalap, although operating more 
slowly. Its active principles are readily taken up by alcohol or 
ether. It forms what is called podophyllin. It is very valuable 
in bilious and febrile disease as a cathartic, or emeto-cathartic, 
often breaking off the disease at once. In constipation, it acts upon 
the bowels without disposing them to subsequent costiveness. 

Dose. — Of the powdered root as a cathartic, from ten to 
thirty grains. Of the tincture, from.tejijtp forty drops. 
MAN-IN-THE-GROUND. 42^volvulus Pandtjratus. 

Description. — This, like most medicinal plants, has quite a 
number of names. It is called the Wild Potatoe, Wild Jalap, 
Man- of-the- Earth, Mechamech, etc., and has a perennial, very 
large tapering root, with several stems from four to eight feec 
long from the same root. The leaves are two or three inches 
long, and the flowers are white, but dull purple towards the 
base. 

History. — Man-in-the-Gronnd, or Wild Potatoe, belongs to 
the United States, and grows in light, sandy soils. It flowers 
from June to August, but is rarely found iu northern latitudes. 
The root is the officinal part. Its best solvent is alcohol, or 
spirits. Water will exiract its active properties. 

Government and Virtues. — It is governed by Jupiter. It is 
a cathartic if powdered and taken in doses of from forty to sixty 
grains. The infusion, taken in wineglassful doses every hour, 
is useful in dropsy, strangury, and calculous affections. It seems 
to exert an influence over the lungs, liver and kidneys, without 
excessive diuresis or catharsis. The milky juice of the root is 
said to be a protection against the bite of the rattle-snake. 
MONKSHOOD. AcoNiTUii Napellus. 

Description. — The common name of the plant is Wolfsbane. 
The rooi is large, fibrous, and whitish internallv. The stems 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 105 

are simple, straight, erect, round, and about five feet high. The 
leaves are alternate. The flowers are large aud of a deep 
bluish purple. 

History. — This perennial herb is a native of most parts of 
Europe, growing iu wooded hills and plains, and is much culti- 
vated in gardens. It flowers iu May and June. All p irts of 
the plant contain powerfully poisonous properties ; but the root 
is the part most generally employed for medicinal purposes. 
It yields aconite. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the influence of Mars. 
In improper doses aconite, a preparation of Monkshood, is no 
energedc aero-narcotic poison. As a sedative and anodyne, it 
is useful in all febrile and inflammatory diseases, and, indeed, 
in all affections in which there is an increase of nervous, vascular, 
or muscular action. Iu acute rheumatism, pneumonia, peri- 
tonitis, gastritis, and many other acute disorders, it has 
been used with the most decided' advantage; Its action is more 
especially displayed iu the highest grades of lever and infl im- 
motion. 

Dose. — The best preparation is the alcoholic extract, formed 
by evaporating a tincture made of a pound of aconite and a 
quart of alcohol. The dose is one-eighth of a grain. 

MOSS, (OORSICAN.) Fucus IIelminthocortos. 

Description — It has purple branches, and is short and thrifty. 

History. — It is a marine plant, gi owing on the Mediterranean 
coast, and especially on the Isl.md of Corsica. It is cartila- 
ginous iu consistence, is of a dull and reddish brown color, has 
a bitter, salt and nauseous taste, and its odor is rather pleasant. 
Water dissolves its active principles. 

Government and Virtues. — It is governed by Venus. It is 
anthelmintic. In cases of intestinal worms, it is without an equal. 

Dose. — From ten to sixty grains, mixed witli molasses or 
syrup, or in infusion. 

MOTHERWORT. Matricaria. 

Description. — The root abides in the ground, as the Ilore- 

hound does, the smell of both being much alike. It has a 

5* 



106 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

strong stalk, rising three or four feet high ; the leaves are of a 
sad green color, somewhat broad and long, and looking as if 
crumpled, deeply dinted about the edges, and almost divided. 
The flowers are red or purple, resembling those of Horehound, 
after which come small, round, blackish seeds in great plenty. 
It is a native of England, and grows only in gardens. 

Government and Virtues. — It is an herb of Venus, under 
Leo. It cleanses the chest of mucus and cold phlegm, takes 
away melancholy vapors from the heart, strengthens it, and 
makes it merry. It makes women joyful mothers of children, 
strengthening the womb ; hence its name of Motherwort. It may 
be kept in a syrup or conserve, and will be found useful in 
trembling of the heart, and faintings and swoonings. 

MULLIEN. Verbascum Thapsus. 

Description. — Mullien is a biennial plant, with a short, tall, 
stout, wooly stem, from three to five feet high. The leaves are 
alternate, oblong, rough, and indented at the margin, — the 
flowers golden-yellow, arrayed in a dense, spiked, club-shaped 
form . 

History. — Mullien is common in the United States, but said 
to have been introduced from Europe. It grows in recent 
clearings, slovenly fields, and along the side of roads, flowering 
from June to August. The leaves and the flowers are the 
parts used. They have a faint, rather pleasant odor, and a 
somewhat bitterish, albuminous taste, and yield their virtues to 
boiling water. 

Government and Virtues.— It is a plant under the dominion 
of Saturn. It is demulcent, diuretic, anodyne, and anti- 
spasmodic, the infusion being useful in coughs, catarrh, bleeding 
from the mouth or lungs, diarrhoea, dysentery and piles. It may 
be boiled in milk, sweetened, and rendered more palatable by 
aromatics, for internal use, especially bowel complaints. A 
fomentation of the leaves in hot vinegar and water, forms an 
excellent local application for inflamed piles, ulcers and tumors, 
mumps, acute inflammation of the tonsils, malignant sore throat, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 107 

etc. A handful of them may be also placed in an old teapot, 
with hot water, and the steam be inhaled through the spout, in 
the same complaints. 

MYRRH. Balsamodendron Myrrha. 

Description. — The Myrrh tree has a shrubby, arborescent 
stem, with spinescent branches, a very pale gray bark, and a 
yellowish white wood. The leaves are remote, on shore petioles, 
and the fruit larger than a pea, smooth and brown. 

History. — The Myrrh-tree grows in Arabia, and in the 
regions between Abyssinia and the Red Sea. The juice flows 
naturally, like cherry-tree gum, upon the bark. At first it is 
soft and pale yellow, but by drying becomes hard, darker and 
redder, and forms the medicinal Gum Myrrh. It is readily 
powdered, and has a peculiar, agreeable, balsamic odor, and a 
bitter, aromatic, not unpleasaut taste. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus. It is 
a stimulant of the mucous tissues, and used to promote expec- 
toration, as well as menstruation; and is highly useful in 
enfeebled conditions of the body, excessive mucous secretion, 
chronic catarrh, leucorrhoea, etc. Also iu laryngitis, bronchitis, 
humoral asthma, and other diseases of the air tubes, accom- 
panied with profuse secretion, but expelled with difficulty. It 
is valuable in suppressed menses and cases of anaemia ; also as 
a local application to indolent sores, gangrenous ulcers, aphthous 
or sloughy sore throat, spongy and ulcerated condition of the 
gum, cones of the teeth, etc. 

Dose. — In powder and pill, ten to thirty grains ; of the 
tincture, from half to two tea-spoonsful. 
NARROW LEAF VIRGINIA THYME. Pycnanthemum 

PlLOSUM. 

Description — This is an indigenous, perennial plant, with 
long and soft whitish hairs, and a subsimple stem. The flowers 
are white. 

History. — It is found in low grounds, dry hills, and plains, 
from Ohio and Illinois extending southward, and flowering in 



108 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

July and August. The whole plant is used, and has the taste 
and odor peculiar to the mint family. 

Government and Virtues — It is under the dominion of 
Mars. It is diaphoretic, stimulant, anti-spasmodic, carmina- 
tive, and tonic. A warm infusion is very useful in puerperal, 
remittent, and other forms of fever, coughs, colds, catarrhs, 
etc., and is of much benefit in spasmodic diseases, especially colic, 
cramp cf the stomach, and spasms of infants. The cold infusion 
is a good tonic and stimulant during convalescence from ex- 
hausting diseases. It forms a most certain remedy for catarrh 
when combined with other native and foreign herbs and roots. 
This remedy for catarrh, which I prepare when ordered, I send 
at a moderate expense, to any patient who writes me a clear 
description of the case. 

Dose. — From one to four fluid ounces of the warm or cold 
infusion, several times a day. 

NETTLE (COMMON, DWAKF, STINGLESS.) Urtica 
Dioica, Urtica Urens, Urtica Pumila. 

Description. — The Common Nettle, known extensively as the 
great stinging Nettle, is a perennial, herbaceous, dull green 
plant, armed with minute, rigid hairs or prickles, which transmit 
a venemous fluid when pressed. The flowers are small and 
green. 

The Dwarf Nettle has a branching, stinging stem one or two 
feet high. 

The Stinging Nettle, or Cool Weed, has a smooth, shining, 
we;>k and brauched stem, from four to eighteen inches high. 

History. — The Common Nettle is well known both in America 
and in Europe, and grows in waste pi ices, beside hedges and in 
gardens, flowering from June to September. So do the Dwarf 
and Stingless Nettle. These plants possess similar qualities. 
The leaves and root are the parts used. The le ves of the 
Common Nettle contain Formic Acid. The young shoots have 
been boiled and eaten as a remedy for scurvy. 

Government and Virtues. — All the Nettles are under the 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 109 

government of Herschel. Their properties are astringent, 
tonic, and diuretic. In decoction they are valuable in diarrhea, 
dysentery and piles — also in hemorrhages, scorbutic and febrile 
affections, gravel, and other nephritic complaints. The leaves 
of the fresh Common Nettle stimulate, inflame, and raise blisters 
upon those portions of the skin to which they may be applied, 
and they have, as a natural consequence, often been used as a 
powerful rubefacient. They are an excellent styptic, checking 
the flow of blood from surfaces almost immediately upon their 
application. The seeds and flowers are given in wine for agues. 
The Dwarf Nettle is the favorite remedy /or uterine flow. The 
Stingless Nettle is agreeably employed in the cure of inflam- 
matory rheumatism. 

Dose. — (Common Nettle.) Of the powdered root or leaves, 
from twenty to forty grains ; of the decoction from two to four 
fluid ounces. 

NET LEAF PLANTAIN. Goodyera Rubescens. 

Description. — The differing names of this plant are Adder's 
Violet, Rattlesnake Leaf, Scrofula Weed, etc. The leaves are 
radical, ovate, and dark green. 

History. — This herb grows in various parts of the United 
States, in rich woods and under evergreens, and is commoner 
southward than northward, although there is a variety {Good- 
yera Repens) which is plentiful in colder regions of America. 
It bears yellowish white flowers in July and August. The 
leaves are the parts employed, and yield their virtues to boiling 
water. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under the dominion 
of Jupiter. It is anti-scrofulous, and is known to have cured 
severe cases of scrofula. The fresh leaves are steeped in milk 
and applied to scrofulous ulcers as a poultice, or the bruised 
leaves may be laid on them, and in either case they must be 
removed every three hours ; at the same time an infusion must 
be taken as freely as the stomach will allow. It is also good 
as a wash in scrofulous opthalmia. In my opinion scrofula is 



110 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST- 

one of the most obstinate and many-shaped afflictions to which 
the human race is subjected, but in the production of this and 
other native and foreign plants, nature has shown her great 
charity and kindness towards us. There is a preparation, of 
which the Net Leaf Plantain forms a material part, which will 
surely banish all scrofulous taint and effect. Any person 
suffering from one or more of the many forms of scrofula, can 
procure this, or a kindred preparation, by writing me a full 
description of their case. In some of these cases a powerful 
tonic is required, and this has to be prepared in obedience to 
the peculiarities of the individual affliction. 

NIGHTSHADE (GARDEN.) Solantjm Nigrum. 

Description. — This is a fetid, narcotic, bushy herb, with a 
fibrous root, and an erect, branching, angular, herbaceous, 
thornless stem one or two feet in height. Flowers, white or 
pale violet, with a musky scent. 

History. — The Garden or Deadly Nightshade is found grow- 
ing along old walls, fences, aud in gardens, in various' parts of 
the United States, flowering in July and August. The leaves 
are the parts employed, and yield their properties to water, 
alcohol, or fixed oils. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under the dominion 
of Mercury. It is a narcotic and sedative, producing, when 
given in large doses, sickness and vertigo. One to three grains 
of the leaves, infused in water, will produce a copious perspi- 
ration and purge on the day following. They have been freely 
used in cancer, scurvy and scrofulous affections, in the form of 
an ointment. Very small doses are taken internally. These 
should always be prescribed, and their effects watched by a 
physician. It is better to use the plant only in the f ;rm of an 
ointment. The berries are poisonous and will produce torpor, 
insensibility and death. 

NORWAY PINE. Abies Excelsa. 
Description. — This tree inhabits Germany, Russia, Norway, 
and other northern parts of Europe, as well as of Asia. It is 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. Ill 

a large tree, often having a diameter of three or four feet, and 
an altitude of one hundred and forty feet. It is acrid, irritating 
mucous surfaces with which it comes in contact, causing sneezing, 
nausea, vomitiug, or purging, according to the parts acted 
upon. 

History. — The Norway Pine and the Norway Spruce Fir 
yield what is known as Burgundy Pilch. 

Government and Virtues. — The tree is under the dominion of 
Mercury. . Burgundy Pitch is generally used externally to 
produce a redness of the surface, with a slight serous exhalation. 
It is employed as a counter-irritant in chronic diseases of the 
lungs, stomach, intestines, etc., and is regarded with favor as a 
local application in rheumatic affections. 

NUTMEG. Myristica Moschata. 

Description. — The Nutmeg grows from twenty to twenty-five 
feet high, having a grayish brown and somewhat smooth bark, 
abounding in a yellow juice. The branches are spreading. 
The fruit yields what is called mace. The seed, or nutmeg, 
is well known to all housekeepers and others, and does not need 
to be described. 

History. — The Nutmeg tree is indigenous to the Molucca 
Isles, and is raised in Sumatra, French Guinia, Mauritius, and 
various West Indian Islands. They are harvested in different 
latitudes in different months— in March, April, July, August and 
November. The virtues of the nutmeg are extracted by alcohol 
or ether. The powder of nutmegs beaten to a pulp, with a little 
water, and pressed between heated plates, yields from ten to 
thirty per cent, of a fragrant, orange-colored, concrete oil, com- 
monly but erroneous called oil of mace. 

Government and Virtues. — The tree is under the dominion of 
Mars. Both nutmeg and mace possess aromatic, stimulating 
properties, and are occasionally used to remove flatulency, 
correct the nausea arising from other drugs, and to allay qualm- 
ishness and vomiting. Piles are sometimes cured by grated 
nutmeg, mixed with lard. It is used, in cases of fever, combined 
with alum and other ingredients, with great good effect. 



112 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

NUX VOMICA. Strychnos Nux Vomica. 

Description. — This is a moderate sized tree, with a short, 
thick, often crooked trunk. The branches are irregular and 
covered with smooth ash-colored bark. The flowers are small, 
greenish white, and funnel-shaped. 

History . — TheNux Vomica tree inhabits Coromandel, Ceylon, 
and other parts of the East Indies. The seeds are the p trts 
used in medicine. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the influence of 
Mercury. It is an energetic poison, exerting its influence chiefly 
upon the cerebrospinal system. It is supposed to affect the 
spinal cord principally. It is' a favorite medicine for paralysis 
and nervous debility generally, but as there other medicines 
for the same maladies and diseases quite as efficacious and less 
dangerous, it should be used very seldom, if ever, aud always 
with extreme caution. 
OAK (WHITE, RED and BLACK.) Quercus Alba, Ruba, 

AND TlNCTORIA. 

Description. — This is a forest tree, varying in size according 
to the climate and the soil. Its diameter is from three to six 
feet — its height from sixty to one hundred feet. Tiiere is also 
the Red and the Black Oak, both averaging about the same 
size as the White. 

History. — Quercus is a very extensive and valuable genus, 
consisting of many species, a large proportion of which grow in 
the United States. Their usual character is that of astringent, 
and the three above described are those which have been more 
particularly employed in medicine. The bark of the tree is the 
portion used. ^White Oak bark is the one chiefly used in 
medicine. It is of a pale brownish color, faintly odorous, very 
astringent, with a slight bitterness, tough, breaking with a 
stringy or fibrous fracture, and not readily powdered. It con- 
tains a very large proportion of tannic acid. Black Oak bark 
is also used as an astringent externally, but is rarely employed 
internally, as it is liable to derange the bowels. It is also used 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 113 

in tanning, and for dying. Red Oak bark also contains con- 
siderable tannin, and is chiefly applied externally in the treat- 
ment of cancers, indolent' ulcers, etc. 

Government and Virtues. — The trees are severally under the 
dominion of Mars, Jupiter aud Saturn. The bark is slightly 
tonic, powerfully astringent and antiseptic. It is useful inter- 
nally in chronic diarrhoea, chronic mucous discharges, passive 
hemorrhages, and wherever an internal astringent is required. 
In colliquative sweats, the decoction is usually combined with 
lime water. The gargle and injection are extensively used for 
sore throat, whites, piles, etc. A bath of the decoction is often 
advantageous in cutaneous diseases, but should only be used 
when ordered by a physician. 

Dose. — Of the decoction, one or two fluid ounces. Of the 
extract, from five to twenty grains. 

OAT (OATMEAL.) Avenge Farina. 

Description. — Avena Sativa, or the Common Oat, has a 
smooth stem, from two to four feet high, — root fibrous, annual. 

History. — Oats have been mentioned by Greek and Roman 
writers. They are cultivated in all temperate northern latitudes. 
The seed is kiln-dried, stripped of its outer husk or skin, and 
ground. It is then oatmeal, a favorite article of food in Scot- 
land, but used in America only for diet in the sick room. It is 
odorless, of a dingy white, and quite bitter to the taste. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of the 
Moon. It is nuiritive and demulcent. It is good in habitual 
constipation ; but is of lit le benefit in dyspepsia. It makes a 
grand gruel for the convalescent. Oatmeal made into a 
common cake, baked and browned like coffee, then ground and 
made into an infusion, forms a drink which will be found excellent 
for nausea, dysentery, diairhooa, cholera morbus, and irritable 
conditions of the stomach. 

OKRA. Abelmoschus Esculentus. 

Description. — Tins is an annual plant, known also by the 
name of Gombo. The stems are somewhat woody around the 



114 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

base, erect, branched, round, from three to six feet in height, 
and three or four inches in diameter. The flowers are of a pale 
yellow color with a dark crimson bottom. 

History. — The Okra is a native of the West Indies. It is 
also raised in the Southern parts of the United States, where the 
capsule is employed for soups, and for pickles. The capsule is 
the part employed, and is highly mucilaginous. The seeds of 
another variety, it is said, are sometimes used by the Arabians 
to mix with their coffee, but of this we have no positive 
evidence. 

Government and Virtues. — The Okra is under the dominion 
of Saturn. It is mucilaginous, and may be employed wherever 
emollients and demulcents are indicated. The leaves make an 
unsurpassable softening and relaxing cataplasm. The seeds are 
used much, on account of their agreeable odor, by perfumers. 
OLD MAN'S BEARD. Chionanthus Virginica. 

Description. — This is a shrub, or small tree growing from 
eight to tweuty five feet high. There is nothing remarkable 
about the stem or leaves. The flowers are in dense pendulous 
panicles, the calyx being very small, the corolla consisting of 
four long and linear petals, etc. 

History. — It is sometimes called the Fringe tree, and is very 
ornamental, and is much cultivated in gardens from Peunsyl* 
vania to Tennessee. It grows on river banks and on elevated 
places, presenting clusters of snow-white flowers iu May and 
June. The bark of the root, which imparts its properties to 
water or alcohol, is the part used. 

Gocernment and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Mer- 
cury. Ti)e bark is aperient, alterative, and diuretic, with some 
narcotic properties. An infusion is recommended for bilious, 
typhoid, and intermittent fevers. To convalescents who are 
suffering from the effects of exhaustive diseases, it is an excellent 
tonic and restorative. It can be used to idvantage as a poultice 
for ulcers, wounds, and external inflammations. 

Dose. — Of the infusion, from the half a fluid ounce to two 




THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 115 

fluid ounces, repeated several times through the day, according 
to the influence it exerts upon the system. 

OLD FIELD BALSAM. Gnaphalium Polycephalum. 

Description. — This plant is also known as White Balsam, 
Sweet-scented Life Everlasting, vie. It is indigenous, herba- 
ceous and annual, with an erect, whitish, woolly, and much- 
branched stem, which grows to the height of one or two feet. 
The. flowers are tubular and yellow. 

History. — Old Field Balsam is found in Canada, and various 
parts of the United States, growing in old fields and on dry 
barren lands. It bears whitish yellow flowers in July and 
August. The leaves have a pleasant aromatic smell, and are 
the parts used. They readity yield their properties to water. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominiou of 
Venus in the sign of Virgo. It is an astringent. Ulcerations 
of the mouth and throat are relieved by chewing the leaves 
and blossoms. In fevers, a warm infusion is found to be very 
serviceable ; also in quinsy, and pulmonary and bronchial com- 
plaints. It is also valuable, in infusion, for diseases of the 
bowels, and hemorrhages ; and the leaves, applied to bruises, 
indolent tumors, and other local affections, are said to be very 
efficacious. 

ONION. Allium Cepa. 

Description. — The Onion has a root bearing a tuuicated 
bull). 

History. — The Onion is a biennial plant, and is supposed to 
be a native of Hungary. It is now, however, found in ail parts 
of the world. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. The 
Onion made into a syrup is good for coughs and colds. A 
saturated tincture of Onions made with the best Holland gin, 
will sometimes cure, or always relieve, gravel and dropsy. It 
should be avoided, however, by all dyspeptics in any shape 
whatever. 



116 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

ORANGE. Citrus Aurantium. 

Description — The Orange is a middle-sized evergreen tree 
with an aborescent stem, covered with bark of a greenish brown 
color, and having axillary spines on the branches. The flowers 
are large and white, rendering the atmosphere around very 
fragrant. 

History. — The Orange is a native of Asia, and is cultivated 
in the southern parts of Europe and America, and in the West 
Indies. The fruit varies according to the climate in which it is 
grown. The China Orange is the sweetest. Orange Flower 
Water, which is prepared in France and Italy, for perfuming 
purposes, is said to be an excellent anti-spasmodic. The outer 
rind of the orange is used for medicinal purposes, the inner or 
pulply rind being discarded in consequence of its tendency to 
mould. Orange peel yields a volatile oil, which is of considerable 
use. It must not be confounded with Oil of Neroli, which is of 
an inferior grade. 

Government and Virtues. — The Orange is under the dominion 
of Venus. The peel is aromatic and slightly tonic. In order 
to correct the taste of disagreeable medicines, it is very liberally 
used. 

Dose. — Of the rind of the Seville orange, as a tonic, from 
thirty to sixty grains, three times a day. 

PAPOOSE ROOT. Caulophyllum Thalictroides. 

Description. — This plant is known as Blue Cohosh, and 
Squaw Root. It is a smooth glaucous plant, purple when young, 
with a high round stem from one to three feet in height. Tne 
flowers appear in May and June. 

History. — It is a handsome perennial pi mt, growing in all 
parts of the United States, near running streams, and in low, 
moist, rich grounds. Also in swamps and on islands. The 
seeds, which ripen in August, make a decoction which closely 
resembles coffee. The berries are dry and rather mawkish. 
The Officinal part is the root 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter. It is 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 117 

principally used as an emmenagogne, parturient, and ami-spas- 
modic. It also possesses diuretic, diaphoretic and anthelmintic 
propei ties. It is employed in rheumatism, colic, cramps, hic- 
cough, epilepsy, hysteria, uterine inflammation, etc. 

Dose. — Of the decoction, from two to four fluid ounces three 
or four times a day. 

PARSLEY. Petroselixuji Sativum. 

Description. — This is a biennial plant, with a fleshy, spindle- 
shaped root, and a round, erect, smooth, branching stem. The 
flowers are white or greenish. 

History. — Although Parsley is reared in all parts of the 
civilized world as a culinary vegetable, it is a native of Europe. 
The root is the officinal part. From the seeds French chemists 
have succeeded in obtaining an essential oil, named Apiol, 
which has proved to be a good substitute for quinia in iuier- 
mi t tent fevers. 

Government and Virtue?. — It is governed by Venus. It is 
diuretic, and very excellent in dropsy and oiher exanthematous 
diseases. It is also frequently used to remedy retention of 
urine, strangury, and gonorrhoea. The seeds are sometimes 
used as carminatives. They will kill vermin in the head. The 
leaves, bruised, are a good appl.cation fur contusions, swelled 
breasts and enlarged glands. 

Dose. — Of the oil, for diuretic purposes, three or four drops 
a day ; of the infusion, two to four fluid ounces three or four 
times a day. 

PARTRIDGE BERRY. Mitchella Repens. 

Description. — This is an indigenous evergreen herb, with a 
perennial root, from which arises a smooth and creeping stem, 
with flat, dark green and shining leaves. The fruit is dry and 
berry-like. It is sometimes called by the titles of One Berry, 
Winter Clover, Deer Berry, etc. 

History-. — Partridge Berry is indigenous to the United States. 
It grows both in dry woods and swampy places, and flowers in 
June and July. f lhe berry is bright scarlet and ediule, uui 



118 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

nearly tasteless. The leaves, which look something like clover, 
remain green throughout the winter. The whole plant is used, 
readily imparting its virtues to alcohol or boiling water. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under the dominion 
of Venus. Partridge Berry is parturient, (producing or pro- 
moting child-birth, or labor,) diuretic and astringeut. In all 
uterine diseases it is highly beneficial. The Indian womeu use 
it for weeks before confinement, in order to render parturition 
safe and easy. Ladies who wish to use it for that purpose, 
however, should consult an herbal physician of experience for 
a proper, safe, and effectual preparation. The remedy is exclu- 
sively American, not being used or even noticed by European 
practitioners. 

Dose. — Of a strong decoction, from two to four fluid ounces, 
three or four times a day. The berries are good for dysentery. 
They are also highly spoken of as a cure for sore nipples. The 
application for the nipples is made by boiling a strong decoc- 
tion of the leaves down to a thick liquid, and then adding 
cream to it. It is not, however, equal to the Ethereal Oint- 
ment, for an account of which see page 297. 

PEACH. Amygdalis Perstca. 

Description. — The Peach tree is well known by almost every 
person. It is commonly considered a n itive of Persia, spring- 
ing by cultivation from the Almond. Flowers, rose-color, ap- 
pearing before the leaves. The leaves are green, Irom three 
to five inches long. 

History. — The Peach tree is cultivated in all parts of the 
United States, where its fruit reaches a greater degree of com- 
pletion and excellence than in any other country. Its height is 
from eight to fifteen feet. Its fruit is large, being from one to 
four inches in diameter, juicy, containing sugar, malic acid, 
etc., and of a delicious flavor. There are about two hundred 
varieties of this fruit, of which one-third are cling stones, the 
flesh adhering to the stone, and the remainder free- stones or 
clear stones, the flesh free, or separating from the stone, the 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 119 

stone resembling 1 very much a hardshell almond. The kernels 
somewhat resemble bitter almonds, but are smaller, and possess 
similar medical virtues. Hydrocyanic acid can be obtained 
from all parts of the tree. 

Government and Virtues. — Like the Almond, it is a plant of 
Lady Venus. Peach leaves in infusion are useful in morbid 
irritability of the bladder, and urethra, in petussis, ischaria, 
hematuria, and nausea, as well as in all inflammations of the 
stomach and abdomen. They act as a sedative in doses of a 
tablespoonful every hour or two of the cold-infusion. In larger 
doses, the infusion slightly acts upon the bowels, and has been 
found useful in removing worms. The kernels are similarly em- 
ployed in the form of tincture, infusion, or syrup. Four ounces 
of the kernels to a quart of brandy form a powerful tonic in inter- 
mittent fever, and are remarkably efficacious in curing leu- 
corrhcea or whites, in females. 

Dose. — A teaspoonful three or four times a d iy. 

The milk or cream of the kernels being drawn forth with 
some Vermin water, applied to the head or temples will induce 
sleep in sick persons requiring it. A few drops of the oil 
dropped in the ears will ease pains in them. The juice of 
the leaves will do the same. The kernels bruised and boiled 
in vinegar to a thick paste or ointment, will cause the hair to 
grow upon bald places, or where the hair is too thin. 

PEARL FLOWERED LIFE EVERLASTING 
Antennaria Margaritaceum. 

Description.— This is a perennial plant, with a simple, erect 

stem. 

History. — This plant is sometimes called Sweet Balsam. It 
is slightly fragrant, and grows in dry hills and woods through- 
out the United States. It is from one to two feet in height, 
and bears yellow and white flowers in July. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Jupi- 
ter. The leaves, which are the parts used, are anodyne, astrin- 
gent and pectoral. They are regarded as one of the most valu- 



120 ' THE COMPLETE HERRALIST. 

able agents known to the medical faculty in the cure of Pulmon- 
ary affections, and of obstinate diarrhoea and dysentery. The 
chief value is, however, in its action upon diseases of the lungs 
and liver. It is said to be unfailing in the cure of the bites of 
poisonous insects and reptiles, applied externally as a hot poul- 
tice. Its soothing, restorative, and healing qualities are un- 
limited. See article on " Acacian Balsam," page 291. 

Dose. — Ordinary infusion. 

PENNYROYAL. Hedeoma Pulegioides. 

Description — Pennyroyal is too well known to require any 
particular description. The Americm Pennyroyal is an annu- 
al plant, sometimes called Tickweed, Squawmint, etc. It has 
a fibrous, yellow root, and an erect, branching, rather angular 
stem, from six to twelve inches high. . The leaves are half an 
inch or more long, oblong, smooth above and rough below, with 
one or two teeth on each side. The flowers are quite small, 
light blue or purple, in six -flowered axillary whorls. 

History. — it is different from the European Pennyroyal, 
growing in barren woods and dry fields, particularly in limestone 
countries, flowering from June to October, and rendering the 
air fragrant for some distance around it. It has a peculiar aro- 
matic odor, which, however, is very offensive to some persons, 
and a hot, pungent, aromatic taste. The Pennyroyal found in 
Engl nd does not materially differ from the American plant, and 
possesses similar medical properties. 

Government and Virtues. — The herb is under Venus. It is 
a stimulant, diaphoretic, emmenugogue and carminative, The 
warm infusion used freely will promote perspiration, restore 
suppressed lochia, and excite the menstrual discharge when re- 
cently checked. It is often used by females for this last pur- 
pose, a large draught being taken at bed-time, the feet having 
been previously bathed in warm water. The warm infusion is 
employed with advantage in the flatulent colic of children. 
The oil, or its tincture, is beneficial in hysteria, hooping-cough, 
spasms, etc. The oil is likewise used as a rubefacient in 







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THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 121 

rheumatism, and united with linseed-oil, as an application for 
burns. 

Dose. — Of the oil, from two to ten drops. 

Pennyroyal was much esteemed by the ancient people. Di- 
oscoiudes says that Pennyroyal warms the coldness of any part 
to which it is applied, digests raw or corrupt matter, and min- 
gled with honey, voids phlegm out of the lungs, and purges 
melancholy by the stool. Pliny says it helps cold griefs, eases 
head-aches, pains of the breast and belly, cramps and convul- 
sions, and that when boiled in milk and drank is effectual for 
coughs and ulcers and sores in the mouth ; while Matthiolus 
affirms that it helps the jaundice and dropsy, and all pains of 
the head and sinews that come of a cold cause. 

PEONY. P^onia Officinalis. 

Description.— Peony has many thick, long-spreading, peren- 
nial roots, running deep into the ground, with an erect, herba- 
ceous, large, green and branching stem, aiout two or three feet 
high. The flowers are large, red, terminal, solitary. 

History. — This pi *nt is indigenous to S »uthern Europe, and 
is cultivated in gardens in the United States and elsewhere 
on account of the elegance of its large flowers, which ap- 
pear from May to August. The root is the officinal part. 
This, with the seeds and flowers, yields its virtues to diluted 
spirits. 

Government and Virtues. — The Peony is under the dominion 
of Venus, combined- with Mars. It is anti-spasmodic and tonic, 
and can be advantageously employed in chorea, epilepsy, 
spasms, and various nervous affections. An infusion of value 
is made by adding an ounce of the root in coarse powder to a 
pint of a boiliug liquid composed of one part of good gin and 
two parts of water. 

Dose. — Two or three fluid ounces, (sweetened) three or four 

times a day. 

6 



122 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

PERUVIAN BALSAM, OR BALSAM OF PERU. 

Myrospermum Peruiferum. 

Description. — The tree from which this is procured is large, 
with a thick, straight, smooth trunk, and a coarse, grey, com- 
pact, heavy, granulated bark. The bark is of a pale straw 
color, filled with resin, which, according to its quantity, changes 
the color to citron, yellow, red, or dark chestnut ; smell and 
taste grateful, balsamic, and aromatic. 

History. — The tree is common to the forests of Peru, and 
flowers from July to October. The natives call it Quinguino. 
It contains a large amount of Balsamic juice which yields 
copiously when the bark is incised. Balsam of Peru, in thin 
1 iyers, has a dark, reddish brown color; in bulk, it is black or 
of the color of molasses. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Saturn. It is an expectorant and stimulant, acting especially 
on mucus tissues, lessening their secretions when profuse. It 
is a specific in Bronchial affections. It is very useful in all 
chronic affections ot mucous tissues, as in catarrh, gonorrhoea 
mucous inflammation of the stomach and bowels, chronic 
diarrhoea and dysentery, leucorrhcea, etc. Applied externally 
to obstinate ulcers, wounds, tetter, cancer, etc., it works won- 
ders. 

Dose. — For external use, it may be made in the form of an 
ointment by melting it with an equal weight of tallow. The 
dose is from ten to thirty drops, mixed with water and the yolk 
of an egg, or consolidated with gum arabic. 

There can be no question as to the specific virtues of this 
and several foreign herbs for diseases such as leucorrhcea, or 
whites, and in cases where our ordinary preparations fail to 
make a cure. I will, upon receiving a written description of 
the trouble, make a special medicine which will no doubt have 
the desired effect. There are many peculiar cases in the class 
of diseases alluded to, which require especial treatment. Pa- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 123 



iients who write will receive a prompt answer, telling them the 
moderate rate of compensation required, etc. 
As an ointment, it is most excellent, made as follows : — 

Beefs Marrow, one ounc9. 

Sulphate of Q ;inia, ten grains. 

Balsam of Peru, one drachm. 

PILE WORT. Lesser Celandine. 

Description. — This plant is a native of Europe, and spreads 
around many pale, green leaves, set on weak and trailing 
branches, which lie upon the ground, and are flat, smooth, and 
somewhat shining. The flowers are small and yellow, the seeds 
being like grains of wheat, of a whitish color, with fibres at the 
end of them. They grow near water-sides and in moist corners 
of fields, sometimes in dryer grounds. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Mars. 
In this plant, we see another verification of the researches and 
learning of the ancient Herbalists, viz : that the virtue of an 
herb may be known by its signature, as plainly appears in this. 
For if you dig up the root of it, you will perceive the perfect 
image of the disease commonly called the piles. Now it is well 
known that the decoction of leaves and roots is almost a certain 
cure for piles and hemorrhoids. It is also excellent for kernels 
: by the ears and throat called " King's- Evil," or any other 
hardness or tumors. I use this as an ingredient in the Ethereal 
Ointment, and it is certain the plant is not misnamed as 
there can be no better remedy for piles, and fistula. See 
page 297. 

PLEURISY ROOT. Asclepias Tuberosa. 

Description. — Pleurisy-root is also known by the names of 
Butterfly-weed, Tuber-root, Asclepias, etc. It has a perennial, 
large, fleshy, white, persiform root, from which arise numerous 
siems, growing from one to three feet high, round, hairy, green 
or red, in bunches from the root. The leaves are hairy, dark 
green above, paler beneath, waved on the edges, the flowers 
numerous and erect, of a beautiful bright orange color. 



124 TAB COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

History — It is a Dative of the United States, more particu- 
larly the Southern States, inhabiting gravelly and sandy soil, 
and flowering in July and August. The root is the medicinal 
part. When fresh, it has a disagreeable, slightly acrimonious 
taste, but when dried, the taste is slightly bitter* Boiling 
water extracts its virtues. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Jupiter ; and much 
used in decoction or iufusion for the purpose of promoting per- 
spiration and expectoration in diseases of the respiratory organs, 
especially pleurisy, inflammation of the lungs, catarrhal affec- 
tions, etc. It is likewise carminative, tonic, diuretic and anti- 
spasmodic, but does not stimulate. Acute rheumatism, fever, 
dysentery, etc., are benefitted by a free use of the warm infu- 
sion. It is also highly efficacious in some cases of dyspepsia. 
In uterine difficulties it has also been found of great value. 

Dose. — Of the powder, twenty to sixty grains, three or four 
times a day. Of a strong tincture, one or two wine-glasses full 
four or five times a day, until perspiration is produced. 
ST. PETERS WORT. 

Description. — This root sends forth new shoots every year, 
the stalks are more or les3 tall, at the top of which stand many 
star-like flowers, very like those of St. John's Wort. It grows 
in groves and low woods, flowers in Juue and July, and the 
seeds ripening in August. It has the same properties of St. 
John's Wort, but somewhat weaker. 

POKE. Phytolacca Decandra. 

Description. — It is an indigenous, perennial plant, known as 
Pigeon berry, Garget, Scoke, Coakum, etc. It has a fleshy 
root, frequently exceeding a man's leg in diameter, easily cut or 
broken, and covered with a very thin brownish bark or cuticle. 
The stems are annual, about one inch in diameter, round, smooth, 
branching, green when young, and purple when matured, grow- 
ing from five to nine feet in height. The leaves are scattered* 
ovate-oblong, smooth on both sides, ribbed undern ath, five 
inches long and two or three in width. The berries are iu 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 125 

clusters, dark purple, almost black, round, depressed or flat- 
tened, marked with ten furrows on the sides. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Saturn. It 
grows along hedges, in neglected fields and meadows, along 
road-sides, moist grounds, etc., flowering from July to Septem- 
ber. The officinal parts of this plant are the roots, leaves, and 
berries. The root, which is more commonly employed, should 
be gathered in the latter weeks of autumn, cleansed from dirt 
and impurities, sliced transversely, and carefully dried. It is 
iuodorous, mild, rather sweetish asle, succeeded by considerable 
acidity. It contains gum, resin, starch, sugar, tannic acid, etc. 
The leaves should be gathered just previous to the ripening of 
the berries ; the berries when fully matured. The berries 
contain an abundance of a beautiful dark-purple juice, which is 
the most delicate test of acids yet known. The early sprouts 
are often used for greens, but become cathartic as they advance 
to maturity. 

POMEGRANATE. Punica Granatin. 

Description. — This is a small tree or shrub with large red 
flowers. The fruit is the size of a small musk melon. 

History. — The Pomegranate is Asiatic, but has been natural- 
ized in the West Indies. The flowers, and the rind of the bark 
are extensively employed for medicinal purposes. 

Government and Virtues. — The tree, or shrub is under the 
dominiou of Saturn. The flowers and rind of the fruit are 
astringent, and are used for the arrest of mucus discharges, 
hemorrhages, night-sweats, and diarrheal accompanying con- 
sumption. They are also very good for intermittent fever and 
tape- worm. The bark of the root is used as a specific for tape- 
worm, and its chief virtues beiug healing, aud balsamic, applied 
to ulcerations of the lungs. 

Dose. — The dose of the rind or flowers in powder is from one 
to two scruples, and in decoction from one to three fluid ounces. 

PRIVET. LlGUSTRUil VULGARE. 

Description. — In England the Privet is carried up with 



126 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

many slender branches to a reasonable height and breadth, to 
cover arbors, bowers, and banquetting houses, and brought or 
wrought iato many fantastic forms, as birds, men, horses, etc. It 
bears long and narrow green leaves by the couples, and sweet 
smelling white flowers in tufts, at the end of the branches, which 
turn into small, black berries, that have a purplish juiee, and 
some seeds that nre flat on the one side, with a hole or dent 
therein. The American Privet has the same or a similar 
appearance. 

History. — It is supposed to have been introduced into Amer- 
ica from England, but it is indigenous to Missouri, and found 
growing in wild woods and thickets, from New England to 
Virginia and Ohio. It is also cultivated in American gardens. 
The leaves are used for medicinal purposes. They have but 
little ocor, and an agreeable bitterish and astringent taste. They 
yield their virtues to water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Moon* 
The leaves are astringent. A decoction of them is valuable in 
chronic bowel complaints, ulcerations of stomach and bowels, 
or as a gargle for ulcers of mouth and throat. It is also good 
as an injection for ulcerated ears with offensive discharges, len- 
corrhooa, etc. This ingredient I use in a wash for leucorrhcei, 
which never fails to cure. This wash can be had from me 
at a reasonable price, as I have so great a demand for it 
that I have to make it in large quantities, and keep it con- 
stantly on hand. 

Dose. — Of the powdered leaves thirty to sixty grains, three 
times a day ; of the decoction two to four teacupsful. The 
berries are reputed cathartic, and the bark is said to be as 
effectual as the leaves, as it contains sugar, mannite, starch, 
bitter resin, bitter extractive, albumen, salts, and a peculiar 
substance called Liguslr in. 

QUASSIA. Picr^ena Excelsa. Quassia Amara. 

Description. — This is a tree growing from fifty to a hundred 
feet high, known as Lofty Quassia, Bitter Wood. Bitter Ash, 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 127 



etc. Tiie Quassia Amara,jov bitter quassia, is a shrub, or 
moderately sized branching tree, having a greyish bark. 

Hidory. — Quassia Amara inhabits Surinam, Guiana, Colom- 
bia, Panama, and the West India Islands. It flowers in 
November and December. The bark, wood and root, which are 
intensely bitter, are used to the greatest advantage in malignant 
fevers. For the medicinal parts of this tree, as they seldom 
reach England or America, we get, as a substitute the Picrcena 
Excelsa of Jamaica and other neighboring islands which flowers 
in October and November, and in the two succeeding months 
matures its fruit. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the influence of 
Saturn. Quassia is tonic, febrifuge, and anthelmintic. Cups 
made of the wood have been used for many years by persons 
requiring a powerful tonic. Any liquid standing in one of these 
vessels a few moments will become thoroughly impregnated by 
its peculiar medicinal qualities. It is a capital vermifuge, and 
most excellent for dyspepsia, but by no means so good as the 
44 Magic Assimilant," or Blue Vervain remedy, for a descrip- 
tion of which see page 279. A strong decoction of quassia 
well sweetened with molasses or sugar is an effectual fly 
poison. 

Dose. — Of the powder, thirty grains ; of the infusion from 
one to three fluid ounces ; of the tincture one or two fluid 
drachms, and of the extract from two to ten grains. 

QUEEN OF THE MEADOW. Eupatorium Purpureum. 

Description. — This plant is also known as Joe fire, Gravel 
Root, Trumpet Weed, etc., and is herbaceous, with a perennial, 
horizontal, woody caudex with many long, dark brown fibres, 
which send up one or more solid green (sometimes purplish) 
stems, five or six feet in height, with a purple band at the point 
about an inch broad. The flowers are all tubular, purple, vary- 
ing to whitish. 

History. — Queen of the Meadow grows in low places, dry 
woods or meadows, in the Northern, Western and Middle States 



128 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

of the American Union, and flowers in August and September. 
The root is the officinal part. It has a smell resembling old hay f 
and a slightly bitter, aromatic taste, which is faintly astringent 
but not unpleasant. It yields its properties to water by decoc- 
tion or spirits. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Jupiter. It is diuretic, stimulant, astringent, and tonic. It is 
used in all chronic urinary disorders, as well as in hematuria, 
gout and rheumatism, with moderate good effect. 

Dose. — Of the decoction, from two to four fluid ounces three 
or four times a day. 

QUEEN'S ROOT. Stillingia Sylvatica. 

Description. — This plant has other names, such as Queen's 
Delight, Silver Leaf, and Yaw Root. It is perennial, with a 
stern which grows from three to four feet high, which, when 
broken, yields a peculiar milky sap. The flowers are yellow and 
ranged on a terminal spike. 

History. — Queen's Root grows in sandy soils and is a native 
of the southern part of the United States. The root is the part 
used. It should be used as soon after being gathered as possi- 
ble, as age impairs its properties. The latter yield to water; but 
are better extracted by diluted alcohol. Its properties appear 
to be owing to a very acid oil, known as the Oil of Stillingia. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. In large 
doses the oil vomits and purges, and is unpleasant to the stom- 
ach, while it produces extreme prostration of the general 
system. In small doses it is of very great — I may siy unsur- 
passable — value as an alterative. It is very extensively used in 
all the various forms of primary and secondary syphilitic 
affections, — also in scrofulous, hepatic, and cutaneous affections, 
— also, with combinations of anise or caraway, for laryngitis and 
bronchitis. The oil, unless well incorporated with some muci- 
laginous or saccharine substance, should never be used internally. 
But it has great value as an external stimulating application. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 129 

QUINCE. Cydonia Vulgaris. 

Description. — This is a tree from fifteen to twenty feet high 
when in good condition, with solitary white flowers, with purple 
tinge and large and termiuaL The fruit is, in appearance, like 
a rough, gnarly apple. 

History. — The Quince tree is a native of Candia, but is cul- 
tivated in Europe and America, extensively. The fruit is very 
much used for jeilies and preserves. The parts used in medicine 
are the seeds, which are highly mucilaginous 

Government and Virtues. — It is governed by Saturn. 
The decoction of the seeds forms a demulcent mucilage, very 
useful in gonorrhce <, dysentery, aphthous affections, and excoria- 
tions of the mouth and fauces, also as a colly rium in conjuncti val 
opihalmia. A syrup prepared from the fruit can be administered 
to advantage in febrile diseases.. 

Officinal Preparation. — Decoctum Cydonii. 

RADISH. (HORSE) Cochleria Armoracia. 

Description— Horse-radish root is perennial, thick, tapering, 
white, long, acid, and very tenacious ot life, from which arise 
many large leaves, and from the centre a round or angular, erect, 
smooth, branching stem, two feet in height. The radical le.ives 
are near a foot long and half as wide, oblong, crenate-toothed, 
of a dark greeu color, the flowers small and numerous. 

History. — This well-known succulent plant is a native of 
Europe, and extensively cultivated in the United States and 
other countries, for the use of its roots as a condiment It 
flowers in the United States in June. The root is the officinal 
or medicinal part. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. Stiinul mt, 
diuretic, auti-scorbutic, and rubefacient. It stimulates an. enfee- 
bled stomach, promotes all the secretions, particularly the 
urinary. The infusion is emetic. 

The grated root with sugar, to form a syrup with water, is 

excellent for hoarseness, a spoonful or two being swallowed as 

occasion requires. The fresh root grated in vinegar, and eaten 

6* 



130 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

with meat at dinner, strengthens the stomach and promotes 
digestion. 

Dose. — Of the root grated, one to two drachms. It is also 
used externally as a rubefacient and counter-irritant. 
RAGGED CUP. Silphium Perfoliate. 

Description. — This plant is known somewhat extensively as 
the Indian Cup Plant ; but the name we have given it here is 
the proper one. It has a perennial, horizontal, pitted rhizome 
(or fleshy root,) and a large, smooth, herbaceous stem, from 
four to seven feet high and often branched above. The flowers 
are terminal, with from fifteen to twenty-five oolong, lanceolate 
yellow rays, and a large dark colored disk. 

History. — This plant is common to the Western states, and 
is f, und growing in rich bottoms, bearing numerous yellow 
flowers which are perfected in August. It has a large, long and 
crooked root, which is the part used medicinally, and which 
readily imparts its properties to alcohol or water. It will yield 
a bitterish gum, somewhat similar to Frankincense, which is 
frequently used to sweeten the breath. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the influence of 
Ju]nter t and is tonic, diaphoretic, and alterative. A strong 
infusion of the root, made by long steeping, or an extract, is said 
to be one of the best remedies for the removal of Ague-cake, or 
enlarged spleen. It is also useful in intermittent and remittent 
fevers, internal bruises, debility, ulcers, liver affections, and as 
a general alterative restorative. The gum is said to be stimu- 
lant and anti-spasmodic. The Spleen is an organ whose func* 
tions the very best of the old school physicians cannot define ; 
but that it is the seat of very many most distressing diseases 
is a fact which not one of them will pretend to deny. It is, 
as nearly as can be ascertained by the most laborious research, 
a dependent of the liver and stomach, and what deranges it 
deranges both the stomach and the liver. I have given it my 
earnest attention, and will be happy to correspond, with a view 
to cure any of the above diseases, with any of my readers at a 
reasonable charge. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 131 

RATTLEBUSH. Baptisia Tinctoria. 

Description. — This plant is known as Wild Indigo, Horsefly 
Weed, etc. It is a perennial with a blackish and woody root,, 
yellowish internally, and sending off many rootlets. The stem 
is much branched, round, smooth, and two or three feet high, 
leaves small, flowers yellow, seeds small and subreniform. 

History — This small shrub grows in dry places in many parts 
of the Uuited States, and bears bright yeliow flowers in July 
and August. The fruit is of a bluish-black color in the form o* 
an oblong pod, and contains indigo, tannin, an acid, and baptisin. 
Any portion of the plant, when dried, yields a blue dye which 
is, however, not equal in value to indigo. If the shoots are 
used after they acquire a green color they will cause drastic 
purgation. Alcohol or water will take up the active proper- 
ties of this plant. Medicinally, both the root and the leaves 
are valuable and deserve to be better known than they are at 
present as remedial agents. The virtues of the root reside 
chiefly in the bark. 

Government and Virtue?, — It is a plant of Saturn. It is 
purgative, emetic, astringent, and antiseptic. For its antiseptic 
qualities or properties, it is more highly esteemed than for any 
other. A decoction of the bark of the root is efficaceous in the 
cure of all kinds of external sores and ulcerations. It is used in 
decoction or syrup, for scarlatina, typhus, and all cases where 
there is a tendency to putrescency. A preparation of this 
agent, (with other ingredients) if made by an experienced her- 
balist and physician, will surely destroy all gmgrenous and 
putrescent diseases. 

Dose. — Of the decoction one tablespoonful every two or four 
hours, as required. The decoction is mide by boiling one ounce 
of the powdered bark in two pints of water until they are 
reduced to one pint. 

RED RASPBERRY. Rubus Strigosus. 

Description. — Eubus Strigosus is a shrubby, strongly insipid 
plant about five feet in height, the fruit is a red berry, hemis- 
pherical, and of a rich delicious flavor. 



132 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

History. — The Red Raspberry grows wild, and is common to 
Canada and the Northern and Middle United States. It grows 
in hedges and thickets, and upon neglected fields. It flowers 
in May, and its fruit ripens from June to August. The leaves 
are the parts used medicinally. They impart their properties 
to water, giving to the infusiou an odor and flavor somewhat 
similar to black tea. 

Government and Virtues. — The Red Rispberry is govern- 
ed by Jupiter. It is very useful as an i.striugent. An 1 illu- 
sion or decoction of the leaves has been found an excellent re- 
medy in diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera infantum, and all dis- 
eases of a kindred nature. It is somewhat freely used as a wash 
and injection for leucorrhcei, gleet, gonorrhoea, and prolapsis 
uteri and ani. The decoction of the leaves combined with 
cream, will suppress nausea and vomiting. It is sometimes 
used as an aid in labor, and has been efficacious in promoting 
uterine contractions when ergot has failed. This plant is one of 
the ingredients of my prepared remedy ior the above diseases. 
Dose. — Of the decoction, from one to four fluid ounces 
several times a day. Of the pulverized root bark, which is 
sometimes used, from twenty to thirty grains. 

RED ROOT. Ceanothus Amertcanus. 

Description. — This plant is sometimes called New Jersey Red 
Booty and is likewise known a& the Wild Snowball. It has a large 
root, with a red or brown skin, containing many small white 
veins, and tolerably thick ; body of the root dark red. 

History. — This plant is very abundant in the United States, 
especially in the western portion thereof. It grows in dry wood- 
lands, bowers, etc., and flowers from June to August. The 
leaves are sometimes used as a substitute for Chinese tea, which, 
when dried, they much resemble. The root, which is ofEciual, 
contains a large amount of Prussic Acid, 

Government and Virtues — It is governed by Venus. Red 
Root, properly prepared, is an astringent, expectorant, sedative, 
anti-spasmodic, and anti-syphilitic. It is used with great good 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 133 

effect in dysentery, asthma, chronic bronchitis, whooping-cough, 
and consumption. See page 291. 

Dose. — Ordinary, after extracting its active principle with 
water. 

RHATANY, Krameria Triandria. 

Description, — Rhatany has a very long and branched root, 
with a thick bark, reddish brown externally, and red internally. 
The stem is round, much branched and taper. The branches 
are two and three feet long, white and silky when young-, dark 
and naked when old. The flowers are red, solitary and axilla- 
ry. The fruit is a dry, hairy drupe, furred with dull', red hooks. 
Seeds one or two. 

History. — Rhatany flowers all the year round, and grow3 
upon the sandy, dry and gravelly hills of Peru, The root is 
the officinal part, and is dug up in large quantities after the 
rains. It was made officinal in 1780 by Ruiz, but long before 
that the natives had used it as a strong astringent for various 
diseases, afflictions, maladies and complaints. In Portugal, to 
which the Peruviaus send the bulk of the roots gathered, it is 
used to adulterate red wines. The best method of extracting 
the medicinal qualities of the root, is to put it powdered in a 
displacer and pass water through. This will bring a brick-red 
aqueous solution, which will embrace all the medical virtues. 
There is a false Rhatany, the source of which is unknown. 

Government and Virtues. — This is a plant of Mercury. It 
is a powerful astringent, and slightly tonic. It is beneficial 
wherever powerful astringents are required, and may be used 
to advantage, if properly prepared, for all diseases which call 
for the application of a decided astringent. 

RHEUMATISM ROOT. Jeffersonia Diphylla. 

Description. — This plant, sometimes called Twin Zealand 
Ground-Squirrel Fea, is indigenous to the United States, is 
perennial, and has a horizontal rhizoma or fleshy root, with 
mntted fibrous radicles. The stem is simple, naked, one flow- 
ered, and from eight to fourteen inches in height. The leaves 



134 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

are not peculiar. The flowers are large, regular and white. 
Seeds many. 

History. — This plant is found from New York to Maryland 
and Virginia, and in many parts of the Western States* It 
grows chiefly in limestone soil, but also is found in woods and 
near rivers, irrespective of limestone, and flowers in April and 
May. The root is the part used, and its virtues are extracted 
by water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Sun In 
decoction and adulterated tincture it is applied with the best 
effect in cases of secondary syphilis, syphilic pains, spasms, 
cramps, all nervous diseases ; but more especially, in Dropsy, 
for which, with other growths of an assimilating character, it 
is accounted to be a specific. Of itself, it is merely a palliative 
of this disease iu its various stages, but made up with its proper 
accompaniments, and given according to the exact state of the 
disease, and its particular location, it cannot-— never does, in 
fact — fail of a perfect cure in a short time. I very frequently 
get letters from persons suffering with dropsy. If I have a 
faithful description of it, I can supply a particular preparation, 
of which this plant will be one of the ingredients, which will 
restore the patient to health very speedily. The expense will 
be moderate. The root, as prepared, is strongly diuretic, alter- 
ative, antispasmodic, and a stimulating diaphoretic. 

Dose. — Of the decoction, from two to four fluid ounces three 
or four times a day. Of the saturated tincture from one to 
three fluid drachms three times a day. 

RHUBARB. Rheum Palmatum. 

Description. — The scientific world happens to be in much 
argument as to the exact plant or plants from which Rhubarb 
is produced. It is, however* well known to all instructed her- 
balists that Rhubarb is the root of a Rheum, and that the 
plant from which the drug of the shops is obtained chiefly in- 
habits Chinese Tartary, and grows wild on the mountains and 
highlands of that section of the globe* 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 135 



History. — There are more than a dozen species of the plant, 
descriptions of which are unnecessary. Thus we have Russian, 
English, French and Chinese Rhubarb, all of which are nearly 
equal, if carefully prep 1 red, in beneficial medicinal efficacy. The 
root, as I have stated before, is the part used. 

Government and Virtues. — It is unquestionably a plant of 
the Moon, all solar rays and influences having to be excluded 
from it during the drying and perfecting process. It is cathar- 
tic, astringent and tonic. It has been highly recommended for 
constipation attended by dyspepsia, but I think its virtues in 
itself much overated. Like all herbal remedies, it has its use, 
if properly combined with other ingredients. Alone, or as a 
specific, every field, wood, plain and mountain, contains some- 
thing equally effective and valuable. 

Dose.— Of the powder, as a purgative, from ten to thirty 
grains. As a laxative, from five to ten grains. As a tonic, 
from one to five grains. Of tue tincture or syrup one to two 
fluid drachms. . 

RICE. Oryza Sativa. 

Description. — R'ce is an annual plant, with several pointed 
stems, from two to ten feet in height. The leaves are long, 
slender aud clasping. The seed is weighty and peculiar. 

History, — Rice is supposed to have been originally a native 
of the East Indies, but is now cultivated in nearly all pans of 
the world where the soil and climate are favorable. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus in the sign 
of Sagittarius. It is nutritious, and when boiled soft in water 
will be found advantageous as a diet for persons afflicted by 
weak stomachs or diarrhoea. 

ROBIN'S RYE. Polytrichia Juniperum. 

Description. — This plant is sometimes called Hair Cap 3Ioss f 
Ground Moss, Bear's Bed, etc. It is perennial, with a simple 
or divided stem ; more generally simple, slender, of a reddish 
color, and from four to seven inches in height. 

History. — It is an evergreen plant found on high places, 



136 THE COMPLETE HEK8ALIST*. 

along the margins of dry woods and exposed places, mostly on 
poor r sandy soil. The whole plant is officinal. It yields its 
properties to boiling water by infusion. 

Government and Virtues. — This plmt is under the influence 
of Saturn. It is one of the most reliable and important reme- 
dial agents with which nature has blessed us, but is not gener- 
ally known to, or used by, practitioners. I became acquainted 
with its virtues by mere accident while staying at a farm-house 
near where it grew in profusion, and while I was searching for 
other plants. By actual experience, I have known it to pro- 
duce, in conjunction with Net-Leaf Plantain and other veg- 
etable growths, of a similar character, the evacuation from a 
dropsical patient of over twenty to forty pounds of water in the 
space of twenty-four hours. It possesses but very little smell 
or taste, and never produces any nausea or disagreeable sensa- 
tion in the stomach. In Dropsies, in the form in which I pre- 
pare it with other ingredients, it is a sure and certaiu cure, 
never having failed. For each case, according to its extent 
and duration, location, etc., I make an especial preparation, 
which 1 will send to any part of this country by Express. 
In order to do this effectually, it is necessary that the patient 
Bhould send me full particulars in writing, stating sex, age, etc. 
Officinal Preparation. — Infusum Polytrichii. 

ROSEMARY. Rosmarinus Officinalis. 
Description. — Rosemary is an erect, perennial, evergreen 
shrub, densely leafly, from two to four feet high, and with nu- 
merous ash colored branches. The flowers are few, bright blue 
or white. 

jETis/on/.— Rosemary is a native of the countries surrounding 
the Mediterranean, and is cultivated in nearly every garden for 
its fragrance and beauty. It flowers in April and May. The 
parts used in medicine are the flowering tops. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Ve- 
nus, and is stimulant, anti-spasmodic and emmenagogue. The 
oil is principally employed. 

Dose — Of the oil, internally, from three to six drops. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 137 

SAFFRON (DYER'S.) Carthamus Tlvctorius. 

Description. — Carthamus Tinctorius, sometimes known as 
Bastard Saffron, Safflower, etc., is an annual plant with a 
smooth stew, growing from oue to two feet high, branching at 
the top. The leaves are smooth and shining. The flowers 
are long, slender, orange-colored and numerous. 

History. — This plant is cultivated in England and America, 
although it is a native of Egypt and the countries surround- 
ing the Mediterranean. The orange-red florets are the offi- 
cinal parts. The cultivated Safflower is usually sold in the 
shops, and contains two coloring matters ; the first of which is 
yellow and soluble in water, the second a beautiful red and 
readily soluble in alkaline solutions only. 

Government and Virtues. — The plant is under the dominion 
of Saturn in the sign of Sccrpio. It will restore the menstru- 
al discharge when the latter has been recently suppressed by 
cold, if used in warm infusion. It will also, w T hen taken in the 
same form, produce an action of the bowels. In measles, scar- 
let-fever, and other eruptive maladies, it is also considered an 
excellent diaphoretic. The seeds are sometimes used as pur- 
gative and emmenagogue, but, in my opinion, are of no great 
value. The infusion is made by boiling a drachm or two of the 
flowers in water. 

Dose — Tolerably free, and to be regulated by circumstances 
and the advice of a physician. 

SAGE. Salvia Officinalis. 

Description. — Garden-Sage is a plant wiih a pubescent, four- 
sided stein, wuh/cfect branches, hoary with down, le ify at the 
base, those bearing flowers a foot or a foot and a half long, 
tomentose. The flowers are blue. 

History — Sjge is a native of Southern Europe, and has 
been naturalized for very many years in this country as a garden 
plant. The leaves and tops should be carefully gathered and 
dried during its flowering season, which is in June and July. 
They have a peculiar, strong, aromatic, camphorous odor, and 
a sharp, warm, slightly bitter taste, which properties are owing 



138 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

to its volatile -oil, which may be obtained by distilling the 
plant with water. It imparts its virtues to boiliug water in 
infusion, but more especially to alcohol. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of Mars. It is 
feebly tonic, and astringent, expectorant, diaphoretic, and hav- 
ing properties common to aromatics. The infusion is much 
valued in cases of gastric debility, checking flatulency with 
speed and certainty. 

The warm infusion will cause active diuresis by checking its 
diaphoretic tendency. It is called by some a most capital re- 
medy for Spermatorrhoea, and for excessive venereal desire, and 
I am ona of those who know from experience in my practice that 
it is grand for what is termed sexual debility, when combined with 
other native and rare foreign plants and herbs. Persons afflicted 
by any of the plagues attendant upon excessive venery, solitary 
habits, etc., may address me confidentially for advice as to this 
specific discovery. 

SAGO. Sagus Rumphii. 

Description. — The Sago Palm has an erect stem, of middling 
height, with large leaves, and prickly petioles. The flcwers are 
polygamo-moncecious on the same spadix. Fruit, a globose 
berry, coated by reverse scales, depressed on both sides and 
one-seeded. 

History. — The tree is common to Malacca and the adjacent 
islands. It grows spontaneously in low, swampy lands, and 
the Sago is obtained from its pith, of which it contains a large 
quantity when the tree is well developed. 

Several species of Palm are known to yield fine Sago, 
amoug which are the Sagus Lavis or Sagus Inermis, and Sa- 
gueris Rumphii. There is Sago meal or flour, common or brown 
Sago, and Pearl Sago, all of which, pure and adulterated, are 
common articles of commerce. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Sun. It is 
nutritive and demulcent, and is chiefly valuable as au article of 
diet to be used in the sick room. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 139 

SALTRHEUM WEED. Cheloxe Glabra. 

Description. — This plant is known also by the titles of 
Turtle-head, Turtle bloom , etc, and is a perennial; it is smooth 
and herbaceous, with a simple, erect, somewhat four-sided stem, 
which reaches the height of from two to four feet. The leaves 
are smooth, and of a dark shining green above. The flowers 
are large, of a rose color, white, or purple; are very ornamental, 
and somewhat resembling the head of a snake or tortoise. The 
fruit is an oval, two-celled and two-valved capsule, with many 
small wing-margined seeds. 

Hiatory. — This plant is highly valued by botanical physicians- 
It is found in the damp soils of the United States, and flowers 
in August and September. The leaves are the parts used in 
medicine, and impart their properties to both alcohol and 
Water. 

Governme?it and Virtues — It is under the dominion of 
Saturn. The preparation of the leaves is tonic, cathartic and 
anthelmintic. It is freely and usefully applied in all cases of 
liver complaint. It is also administered for worms, and, in very 
small doses as a tonic in dyspepsia, and kindred diseases. In 
the form of an ointment it will ease painful aud inflamed tumors, 
irritable ulcers, piles, inflamed breasts, etc. 

Dose. — Of the powder one drachm ; of the tincture one fluid 
drachm, of the decoction one fluid ounce. 

SARACEN'S WORT. 

Description. — From the roots, which do not perish in winter 
spring stalks to the height'of a man, having peach-tree shaped 
leaves; it produces many yellow, star-like shaped flowers, and 
afterwards, small, long brownish seeds, wrapped in down, which 
causes them to be carried away by the wind. It grows in 
moist and wet places, by shadowy groves, etc., and flowers in 
July. 

Government and Virtues. — Saturn governs this herb. It is 
held in high esteem among the Germans, for all diseases of the 
liver and spleen, dropsy, etc. It has the same properties as 
Bugle or Lanicle, 



140 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

SCULL-CAP. Scutellaria Lateriflora. 

Description, — Scull-cap has a small, fibrous, yellow, perennial 
root, with an erect aud very branching stem, from one to three 
feet in height ; the leaves are an inch long, thin, or nearly mem- 
branous, the flowers small and of a pale blue color. 

History. — It is an indigenous herb, growing in damp places, 
meadows, ditches, and by the side of ponds, flowering in July 
and August. It is known by the names of Blue Scull -cap, Side 
Flowering Scull- cap, Crazy Weed, and Hood-wort. The 
whole plant is medicinal, aud should be gathered while in 
flower, dried in the shade, and kept in well-closed tin 
vessels. 

Government and Virtues. — Scull-cap is a plant of Mercury. 
It is a valuable nervine, tonic, and anti-spasmodic, used in 
chorea, convulsions, fits, delirium tremens, and ail nervous affec- 
tions, supporting the nerves, quieting and strengthening the 
system. In delirium tremens, an infusion drank freely will soon 
produce a calm sleep. 

Dose. — Of the fluid extract, from half to a teaspoonful ; of 
the tincture (four ounces Scull-cap to a pint of diluted alcohol,) 
one to two teaspoonsful, of the infusion, a wine-glassful three 
times a day. 

SKUNK CABBAGE. Symplocarpus Fcetidus. 

Description. — This plant has been a troublesome one for 
Botanists to classify ; but the term Symp/locarpus is now gen- 
erally preferred. It is perennial, having a large, abrupt root, 
or tuber, with numerous crowded, fleshy fibres, which extend 
some distance into the ground. The spaihe appears before the 
leaves, is ovate, spotted, and striped, purple aud yellowish-green, 
the edges folded inward, and at length coalescing. The flowers 
are numerous, of a dull purple, within the spa the, on a short, 
oval spadix. The seed is round, fleshy, and as large as a 
pea. 

History. — Skunk Cabbage, known by the several names of 
Symplocarpus, Skunk weed, Polecat-weed, and Meadow Cab- 
bage, is a native of the United States, growing in moist grounds, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 141 

flowering in March and April, and maturing its fruit in August 
and September, forming a roughened, globular mass, two or 
three inches in diameter, and shedding its bullet-like fruit, one-third 
to half an inch in diameter, which ore filled with a singular, 
solid, fleshy embryo. The parts used are the seeds and roots, 
which have an extremely disagreeable odor. Water or akohol 
extracts their virtues. 

Government and Virtues.— It is a plant of Mars. It is a 
simulant, exerting expectorant, anti-spasmodic, with slightly nar- 
cotic influences. It is successfully used in asthma, hooping-cou^h , 
neivous irritability, hysteria, fits, epilepsy, convulsions, cbron.V, 
catarrh, pulmonary and bronchial affections. 

Dose. — Fluid extract, twenty to eighty drops. Tincture 
(three ounces of root or seed to a pint of alcohol) half a tea- 
spoonful. Syrup, (two ounces of fluid extract to eight ouucgs 
of simple syrup) two or three teaspoonsful. 

ST. IGNATIUS BEAN". Ignatius Amara. 

Description.-r-The Ignatius Amara is a branching tree with 
long, taper, smooth, scrambling branches. The' leaves are 
veiny, smooth, and a span long. The fl )wers are long, nodding, 
and white, and smell like jasmine. The fruit is small and pear- 
shaped, and the seeds number about twenty, are angular and 
are imbedded in a soft pulp. 

History. — The tree is iudigenous to the Phillipine Islands, 
and the seeds thereof are the St. Ignatius Bean of the drug shops. 
The bean yields its properties best to alcohol ; but will also 
yield them to water. It contains about one third more strychnia 
than nux-vomica ; but is seldom used for the production of 
strychnia on account of its extreme scarcity. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the influence of Mer- 
cury. It is used in nervous debility, amenorrhea, chlorosis, 
epilepsy, worms, etc., with partial good effect ; but is a danger- 
ous article however well prepared, and should be used only by 
the advice of a professional gentleman upon whose truth aud 
ability you may place the utmost confidence, As commonly 
administered it is dangerous ; but if properly regulated in doses 



112 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

by experienced herbalists it could be made productive of much 
benefit in nervous debility. 

Dose.-Of the powdered seed, one grain; of the alcoholic extract 
one-eighth of a grain. 

SLIPPERY-ELM. Ulmus Fulva. 

Description.— Slippery-Elm, also called Red-Elm, is a tree 
from twenty to sixty feet in height and one or two feet in diame- 
ter. The bark is brownish, that of the branches whitish and 
scabrous. The leaves are from four to six inches long, and two 
or three inches broad. The buds are rusty-wooly. The flowers 
and fruit are not remarkable. 

History. — This tree is common to America, especially the 
Western States. It grows in woods and low grounds, along 
fences, and in rich and moist soils, flowering in April. The offi- 
cinal part is the inner bark, which is usually taken from the 
tree in long strips. 

Government and Virtues, — It is under the dominion of Venus, 
in the signs of Cancer, Virgo, and Scorpio. It is nutritive 
and expectorant, also diuretic, demulcent and emollient, and is 
a very valuable remedial agent. In mucus inflammation of the 
lungs, bladder, kidneys, bowels, or stomach, it is freely used in 
the form of a mucil igiuous drink. It is also useful in diarrhoea, 
dysentery, coughs, pleurisy, strangury, and sore throat, in all 
of which it tends powerfully to allay the infl immation. Some 
physicians prescribe the infusion to be drank by ladies about to 
be confined, as a capital parturient. An elm poultice, applied to 
fresh wounds, burns, scalds and bruises will be found highly 
beneficial ; but it is not valuable for ulcers. Like all other 
remedial articles provided by nature, it requires to be combined 
skilfully with other articles to prove a positive cur.itive. 
SMA.HT-WEED. Polygotum Punctatum. 

Description. — This plant is frequently called Water Pepper. 
It is an annual, with a smooth stem ; branches slender, joint- 
ed, and of a reddiole or greenish-brown color. It grows from 
one to two feet in height. The leaves are two or three inches 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 143 

long, and not more than one-fifth as wide. The flowers are 
small, greenish-vhite or purple. 

History. — It is a well-known plant, growing in England and 
America, in ditches, low grounds, among rubbisb, and about 
brooks and water-courses. It flowers in August and Septem- 
ber. The whole plant is officinal. It has a biting, pungent, 
acrid taste, and imparts its virtues to alcohol or water. It 
should be collected and made into a tincture while fresh. When 
it is old it is also worthless. The English variety, of which we 
give an illustration, possesses the same properties. 

Government and Virtues. — Mars governs this hot plant. It 
is stimulaut, diuretic, emmenagogue, antiseptic, diaphoretic, etc. 
The infusion in cold water has been found serviceable in gravel, 
colds and coughs and in milk sickness. In cholera, the patients 
wrapped in a sheet moistened with a hot decoction have re- 
covered. 

It is used as a wash in chronic erysipelous inflammations. 
The fresh leaves bruised with the leaves of May-weed, and 
moistened with the oil of turpentine, and applied to the skin, 
will speedily vesicate. The infusion in cold water forms an ex- 
cellent local application in the sore mouth of nursing women, 
and in medical ptyalism, or salivation. The decoction or iufu- 
sion in hoc water, is not so active as when prepared in cold or 
warm water. 

Dose. — Of the infusion, from a wine-glassful to a ten cupful 
threp. or four times a day. [See ■ ' Magic Assimilant," page 
279] 

SORREL (WOOD ) Rumex Acetosa. 

Description. — Wood-Sorrel is so common both in England 
and America that it requires no description. (See Illustra- 
tion.) There are other species of sorrel which possess the same 
virtues. 

History. — The Sorrels grow wild in the woods, fields, and 
the gardens, and flower in July and August. The leaves are 
the parts employed. 



144 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Venus. 
Fresh sorrel leaves are refrigerant and diuretic, also alterative. 
An infusion of the leaves is a most excellent purifier of tha 
blood, and, in combination with other herbal medicines skil- 
fully prepared, is a most excellent anti-scorbutic. The leaves ?ire 
sometimes boiled and eaten as salad or spinaehe, but as they 
contain a large percentage of oxalic acid, it is best that they 
should not be adapted to edible purposes ; nor, indeed, should 
they, or any other medicinal herb, be used freely, without proper 
advice from experienced herbalists, and physicians. 
STAR GRASS. Aletris Farixosa. 

Description. — This plant, known by the several names of 
Unicorn- Root, Star-Grass, Colic- Root, Ague Root Crow Com, 
etc., has a perennial root, with radical, ribbed, smooth, large 
leaves, three or four inches loug, and one-fourth as wide, lying 
flat upon the ground. The scape, or flower-stem is erect, from 
one to three feet high. 

History. — It is indigenous to North America, growing in low 
grounds, sandy soils, and at the edges of woods. Its flowers 
are white, and appear from May to August. The root is the 
part used. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the government of 
Venus. Its root, when thoroughly dried, is an intensely bitter 
tonic, and in decoction or tincture, is of great utility in dyspep- 
sia, general or local debility, flatulent culic, hysteria, etc. It 
greatly strengthens the female generative organs, affording pro- 
tection against miscarriage ; and in chlorosis, amenorrhea i, 
dysmenorrhea*, engorged conditions of the uterus, prolapses of 
thai organ, is a very superior vegetable agent. 

Dose. — Of the powdered root, from five to ten grains three 
times a day. Of the saturated tincture, five to fifteen drops. 
ST. JOHN'S WORT. 

Description. — This is a beautiful shrub, and is a great orna* 
rnent to our meadows. It has a hard and woody root, which 
abides in the ground many years, shooting anew every year. 






#*4 



TirK COMPLETE HEMWUST. 145 

The stalks run np about two feet high, spreading many branch- 
es, having deep green leaves, which are full of small holes, 
which are plainly seeu when the leaf is held up to the light. 
At the tops of the stalks and branches stand yellow flowers of 
five leaves apiece, with many yellow threads in the middle, 
which, being bruised, yield a reddish juice, like blood, after 
which come small, round heads, wherein is contained small 
blackish seed, smelling like resin. It grows in woods arid 
copses, flowering in July, and the seeds ripening in August. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Sun. A de- 
coction of the herb and flowers, especially of the seed, is good 
for hemorrhage or spitting of blood, tertian or quartan agues, 
falling-sickness, palsy, sciatica, etc. An ointmeut of it is good 
for swellings, hurts, bruises and wounds. 

SUMACH. Rhus Glabrum. 
Description. — Great care is necessary in the selection of the 
several species of Rhus, as many of them are highly poison- 
ous. Rhus Gihbrum, or Smooth Sumach, is a shrub from six 
to fifteen feet high, consisting of many straggling, glabrous 
branches, covered with a pale grey bark, having occasionally a 
reddish tint. 

History. — Sumach grows in the thickets and waste grounds 
of Canada and the United States. It flowers in Juue and 
July, but matures its fruit in September and October. The 
bark and berries are officinal. The berries should be gathered 
before rains have washed away the acid properties which re- 
side in their external, downy efflorescence. Both the bark and 
berries yield their aenve influence to water. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Ve- 
nus. The berries are refrigerant and diuretic ; the bark is 
tonic, astringent, and antiseptic. The bark of the root has 
sometimes been used, with success, in decoction or syrup, as a 
palliative of gonorrheal, leucorrhcea, diarrhoea, hectic fever, dys- 
entery, and scrofula. Combiued with the barks of white pine, 
and slippery elm, in certain particular doses of decoction, it 

will, with other very simple treatment, cure syphilis. 

7 



146 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Dose. — From one to three fluid ounces of the decoction of 
bark. Of the infusion of berries, from one to four fluid ounces. 

SUMMER SAVORY. Satureja IIortensis. 

Description. — This is an annual plant, with a brandling and 
bushy stem, about eighteen inches in height, woody at the base, 
frequently changing to purple. The leaves are numerous, small, 
linear-oblong, entire, acute at the end. The flowers are pink- 
colored. 

History. — It is a native of the south of Fiance. It is 
exiensively cultivated for culinary purposes in Europe and 
America, and flowers in July and August. The leaves are the 
part employed. They have au aromatic odor acd taste analo- 
gous to those of thyme. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Mercury. It is a stimulant, carminative, and emmenagogue. 
A warm infusion is beneficial in colds, menstrual suppression, 
and wind colic, for which it is a specific. 

Dose. — From two to tour ounces of the infusion several times 
a day. 

SUN-FLOWER Helianthus Annuus. 

Description. — This is an annual plant, with an erect, rough 
stem, usually about seven feet high, but under favorable circum- 
stances attaining the height of fifteen and twenty feet. The 
leaves are large, cordate, and three-nerved. The flowers are 
large and nodding, with yellow rays, and dark purple disc. 
The seeds are numerous, and of a dark purple when ripe. 

History. — This well-known plant is a native of South America, 
but is extensively cultivated in the United States on account ot 
its beautiful, brilliant, yellow flowers, which appear in July and 
August. The ripe seeds are the parts used for medicinal pur- 
poses. They contain a fixed oil which may be obtained by 
expression. The leaves are large, and when carefully dried, may 
be made into segars, very much resembling ia flavor, that of a 
mild Spanish one. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of the Sun. The 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 147 

leaves and seeds are diuretic nnd expectorant, and are used in 
consumption with considerable benefit. 

The following preparation has been used in pulmonary affec- 
tions with decided benefit, also in bronchial and laryngial 
compl lints, the cough of phthisis, etc. It acts as a mild ex- 
pectorant and diuretic. 

Take of Sun-flower seeds, bruised, two pounds ; water, five 
gallons ; boil the two together until about three gallons of 
liquid remains ; then strain, add twelve pounds of sugar, and one 
and a half gallons of good Holland gin. The dose of this is from 
two teaspoonsful to three tablespoonsful, or a wine-glassful, t-iree 
or four times a day, or whenever tickling or irritation of the 
throat or cough is excessive, or when expectoration is difficult. 

Various agents may be added to this preparation, according 
to indications, as tincture of Stillingia, tincture of Balsam of 
Toln, tincture of Iodine, etc. 

SWAMP BEGGAR'S-TICK. Bidets Counata. 

Description. — Swamp Beggars-Tick has a smooth stem, four 
furrowed, with opposite branches, and grows from one to four 
feet high. The flowers are solitary, consisting only of the tubular 
yellow florets. 

History. — This is a common weed, found in wet grounds, rich 
fields, swamps and ditches, from New England to Missouri. It 
flowers in August. The root and seeds are employed medicinally, 
and may be used in r'ecoction, infusion or tincture. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of Venus. 
The root and seeds are emmenagogue and expectorant ; the 
seeds, in powder or tincture, have been used in amenorrhcea, 
dysmenorrhcoa, and some other uterine derangements, and an 
infusion of the root has proved beneficial in severe cough. It 
has been used with great success for palpitation of the heart, 
and for croup. For this latter affliction, a strong infusion of 
the leaves, sweetened with honey, and administered in table- 
spoonful doses every fifteen minutes until vomiting is produced, 
is regarded a cure. The leaves heated to the form of a poultice 
and laid upon the throat and chest in cases of bronchial and 



148 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

laryngeal attacks from exposure to cold, etc., are very beneficial 

SWEET GUM. Liquidaxibab Styraciflua. 

Description.— The Sweet Gum tree grows to the height of 
from fifty to sixty feet. Its bark is gray and deeply farrowed 
and there are corky ridges on the branches ; the leaves are 
fr errant when bruised, and turn a deep red in the fall. 

History. — This tree is very abundant in the Southern and 
Middle states, and can be found in the moist woods of nearly all 
parts of the Union. From incisions made in the trees a gum 
exudes which is resinous and adhesive, and somewhat like white 
turpentine in appearance. 

Government and Virtues.— This tree is also under the 
dominion of Saturn. As a remedy for catarrhs, cougus, and 
pulmonary affections generally, it is without an equal, although 
physicians generally do not use it in their practice. It is also 
very valuable for fever sores, fistula, scrofula, etc., when made 
into an ointment* 

Dose. — The dose internally, is from ten to twenty grains, 
according to circumstances. 

TACAMAIIAC. Populus Balsamipera. 

Description, — This tree also called Tacamahac Poplar attains 
the height of from fifty to seventy feet, with a trunk about 
eighteen inches in diameter. The branches are smooth,' round, 
and deep brown. The leaves are ovate, gradually tapering and 
pointed. 

History. — This tree is found in Siberia, and in the northern 
parts of the United States and Canada. In America L is in 
blossom in April. The leaf-buds are the officinal part. They 
should be collected in the Spring, in order that the fragrant, 
resinous matter with which they are covered, may be properly 
separated in boiling water, for upon this their virtues depend # 
They have an agreeable, incense-like odor, and an unpleasant, 
bitterish taste. The balsamic juice is collected in Canada in 
shells, and sent to Europe under the name of Tacamahaca. 
Alcohol, or spirits, is the proper solvent. The Populus Balsam. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 149 

ifera is generally confounded with the Populus Candicous from 
whose buds we get the virtues known as the Balm of Gilead \ 
but it is much the superior tree for medicinal purposes. 

Government and Virtues. — Tnis tree is under tSie dominion of 
Venus, in the signs, however, of Cancer and Libra. The buds 
are stimulant, tonic, diuretic, and antiscorbutic. In tincture, 
they have been beneficially employed in affections of the stom- 
ach and kidneys, and in scurvy and rheumatism. Sometimes 
they are applied in that form, as a remedy for affections of the 
chest. The bark is known to be tonic and cathartic, and will 
prove of service in gout and rheumatism. So far as gout is 
i concerned, it makes a most excellent remedy if made up with 
other plants of a foreign and domestic origin, by a practised 
herbal physician. 

Dose.— Of a tincture of the buds, from one to four fluid 
drachms. Of an extract of the bark, five to fifteen grains three 
times a day. 

THROAT-WORT. Cervicaria. 

Description. — This plant has a great, thick, white root, which 
sends forth hard, squire, brown stalks, three or four feet high, 
whereon grow large, hard, dirk green leaves, two at the joint. 
At the top of the stalk stand many purple flowers set in husks 
which are sometimes gaping and sometimes open, somewhat like 
those of Water Beiony ; after which come hard, round heads, 
with a small point in the middle, wherein lie small brownish 
seed. It grows in moist, shady woods, and in low fields aud 
meadows, flowering in July, and the seeds ripening about a 
month after the flowers have fallen. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Venus. It is 
excellent in scrofula, king's evil, either in decoction or ointment, 
to the throat. The ointment of the fresh herb is effectual in all 
knobs, kernels, bunches, wens, and for hemorrhoids or piles, the 
decociion being taken inwardly at the same time. The distilled 
water of the whole plant is used for the same purposes, and will 
also take away all redness, spots, and freckles in the lace. 



150 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

TOBACCO. Nicotiana Tabacum. 

Description. — This is an anuual herb with a long, fibrous 
root, and an erect, round, hairy, viscid stem, branched toward 
the top, and from four to six feet in height. The leaves are pale 
green, one or two feet long, and six or eight inches broad. The 
flowers are rose colored. 

History. — Tobacco is a native of the southern portions of 
America, and the hotter the climate in which it is raised, the 
more grateful is its flavor. It was first exported to Europe in 
1586 by Sir Walter Raleigh. It is now raised in many parts 
of the world, and especially in the Middle states of America. 
That most commonly used is raised in Virginia, (or was, prior 
to the rebellion,) but the Cuban, or Havana leaf has the pre- 
ference among smokers. The dark leaf is much stronger and 
more powerful in action than the light colored. Water or 
alcohol exti acts its virtues. The prevail. ng analysis is gum, 
mucilage, tannic acid, chlorophyll, green pulverulent mattv 
soluble in boiling water, pale yellow resin, nicoiina, nicotiauin, 
and a substance analagous to morphia. 

Tobacco is a potent acro-narcotic poison. It should not bo, 
used in any form by persons afflicted by fits or any kind of 
nervous disease. Unless such persons discontinue its use, their 
afflictions cannot be abolished entirely although they may be 
mitigated. I would impress upon all such patients this fact so 
vividly that they will not forget it. The infusion is more apt 
to affect the heart, and its smoke to act on the brain — the former 
being followed by great feebleness of the pulse, fluttering of 
the heart, faintness, alarm, etc., while the latter occasions nausea, 
vomiting and drowsiness. Medicinally, it is a sedative, emetic, 
diuretic, expectorant, discutient, anti-spasmodic, and sialagogue. 
In my opinion it should never be used iuternally, unless where 
extreme emetics will not operate. Scotch snutf and lard is an 
old and preity well exploded application for croup. But pro- 
perly prepared by one who has earnestly studied its peculiarities, 
Tobacco is one of the most valuable ingredients existing of an 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. . 151 

ointment for external application in cases of sore throat, asthrm, 
tubercular consumption, piles, strangulated hernia, all spasmodic 
affections, ulcers, tumors, peritonitis, neuralgia, hysteria, convul- 
sions, cutaneous diseases, etc., etc. It may be even outwardly 
applied in cases of Fits, if compounded with belladonna and 
several other excellent articles of a similar character, which are 
known only to an experienced herbalist, with great satisfaction. 
TOLU. Myrospermum Toluiferuji. 

Description. — The tree from which Balsam of Tolu is 
obtained is so similar to that from which Balsam of Peru is 
procured, that a full description of it is needless. 

Hidory. — It is a tree which grows throughout the forests of 
South America. I have seen it growing there in all parts of 
the Republic of Peru, and can safely assert that it is not, as 
some botanists have said, the tree, (although similar excepting 
in the leaves ) from which the Balsam of Peru is obtained. 
The M. Toluiferum is the species from which the best Tolu is 
procured, and the best specimens thereof are found on the 
elevated plains and mountains ne»rTolu, Carthagena, and in the 
Magdalena province of Colombia. . The Balsam, as I collect it, 
flows from incisions made in the bark at the proper times, and 
is received in waxen vessels in which it solidifies. It is then 
put into tin vessels and takeu to whatever quarter of the globe it 
may be desirous to have it sent. 

Government and Virtues. — It is governed by Saturn. It is, 
like Balsam of Peru, a stimulant, tonic, and expectorant, and can 
not be equalled for its curative effects (when properly and skill- 
fully combined with other articles of a simitar nature) in cases 
of consumption, catarrh, bronchitis, asthma, and all inflammatory, 
ulcerated, spasmodic, or other morbid conditions of the respira- 
tory organs and their adjuncts The balsam dissolved in ether, 
and the vapor therefrom inhaled, is reported beneficial in coughs 
and bronchial affections of long standing, and I have no doubt 
it is so, as its virtues in such complaints are very wonderful ; 
but in order to make a cure it must be combined with other 



162 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

ingredients, for the names of which see page 291 of this book. 
VALERIAN. Valeriana Officinalis. 

Description — The officinal Valerian, sometimes known as 
Great Wild Valerian, is a large herb with a perennial, tuberous, 
somewhat creeping, fetid root, and a smooth, hollow, furrowed 
stem, about four feet in height. The leaves are all pinnate, 
opposite. The flowers are flesh-colored, sm ill, and fragrant. 

History. — Valerian is a European plant, growing in wet 
places, or even in dry pastures, flowering in June and July. 
Several varieties grow in America, and are used ; but the 
English Valerian is by all odds the best. The officinal part is 
the root. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the influence of 
Venus. Valerian excites the cerebrospinal system. In large 
doses it causes headaches, mental excitement, visual illusions, 
giddiness, restlessness, agitation, and even spasmodic movements. 
In medicinal doses it acts as a stimulating tonic, anti-spas- 
modic, and calmative. It is temporarily beneficial in all cases 
where a nervous stimulant is required. The extract is good. 
The infusion is preferable. 

Dose. — Of the infusion, one or two fluid ounces, as often as 
may be prescribed by * physician. 

TANSY. Tanacetum Vulgare. 

Description. — Tansy has a perennial, moderately creeping 
root, an erect, six-^ided, leafy, solid and' -smooth stem, one to 
three feet in height, and smoothish, dark green leaves. The 
flowers are golden-yellow. There is a variety with crisped and 
dense leaves called Double Tansy. 

History. — Tansy is indigenous to Europe, but is cultivated 
largely iu America. It grows spontaneously, also, in old 
grounds, and along roads, and flowers generally in August or 
the early part of September. The whole plant is officinal. 
It has an unpleasant, .aromatic odor, and a strong, pungent and 
bitter taste, which properties it owes to a yellow or greenish 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 153 

volatile oil. Its medicinal virtues arc extracted by alcohol, 
ether, chloroform, and by water id infusion. 

Government and Virtues -— T >nsy is a plant of Venus. (Jul- 
pepper, the he id of the old English Herbalists, says of it, 
"Dame Venus wis minded to pleasure women with child by 
this herb ; for. there grows not an herb fitter for their use than 
this is ; it is just as though it were cut out for the purpose." 
My knowledge of it leads me to teach all women who want 
children never to touch it, for the oil, as well as the infusion, 
is frequently used as an abortive, than which there is nothing 
so dangerous and destructive to health and life. The ceed is 
very proGtably given to children for worms. The plant is tonic, 
emrnenagogue and diaphoretic. The cold iufusion is very good 
for flatulency, worms, dyspepsia, jaundice, etc. The warm in- 
fusion, carefully administered, will possibly be found beneficial 
in tardy labor pains, but I do not feel warranted in recommend- 
ing it for the use of women in the family- way. There are other 
things much better and safer, as the careful reader of this book 
m iy readily observe. Tansy is much employed as a fomenta- 
tion to sw r ellings, strains, tumors, local infi immations, etc., and 
is often applied to the bowels in amenorrhcea and painful dys- 
menorrhoe i. A vinous infusion is used for urinary obstructions 
and weakness of the kidneys. 

Dose. — Of a powder sometimes made, thirty to sixty grains 
every three or four hours. Of the iufusion, from one to thrco 
fluid ounces. Of the tincture, one fluid drachm. 
TAPIOCA. Janipha MUnihot. 

Description. — This plant is a native of Brazil and is cultiva- 
ted in various parts of So^t^merica. It has a large, fleshy, 
oblong, tuberous root, often weighing thirty pounds, and full of 
a wheyish, venomous juice. The stems are white, crooked, 
brittle, jointed, pithy, usually six or seven feet high, and haying 
a smooth, white bark. The branches are crooked, aud have, 
on every side, ne;ir their tops, their leaves. 

History. — This plant furnishes a large amount of lood to the 

7* 



154 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

inhabitants of Southern America, under the names of Mnndioca, 
Tapioca, and Cassava Starch. What we know as Tapioca is 
prepared from the root of oue variety of this plant, (there are 
two varieties) which is first reduced to what is called Bitter 
Cassava, and which is a bitter juice. The large fleshy root is 
reduced to a pulp, this is washed with cold water in funnei- 
shaped water-filters, the starch in allowed to subside in the 
milk}' fluid, which passes through, and is afterwards prepared 
and dried in the usual manner, a description of which is not 
necessary. This starch is the substance used. 

Government and Virtues. — The tree is under the dominion of 
Jupiter. Tapioca is nutritive and demulcent. It is useful as 
a light and agreeable food for the sick, especially those who 
have febrile diseases or weak stom ichs. It is much used for 
food for infants who are undergoing the process of weaning. 

THISTLE. (Cotton, or Woolly) Carduus Arvensis. 

Description. — This has many large leaves, of a green color 
on the upper side, but covered over with a long hairy wool 
or cotton down, set with sharp and cruel prickles. 

The flowers are crimson ; sometimes, but very seldom, 
white. The seed that follow iu those white, downy heads is 
somewhat large and round. The root is great and thick, 
spreading much, but generally dies after seed-time. 

History — There, are several varieties of the Thistle, but all, 
both in England and America, possess the same qualities. It 
grows on ditch banks, in fields and highways — almost every- 
where, iu fact, and flowers in June, July and August. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. It is 
tonic aud astringent, used principal *** in dysentery aud diarrhoea, 
boiled in milk. It is, in decoction, jl fair remedy for cramps 
and spasms. The root is the part chiefly employed, boiled in 
water. 

THORN-APPLE. Datura Stramonium. 

Description. — This plant, also known as Stinkiveed, James- 
town Weed, Apple fern, etc., is a bushy, smooth, fetid annual 
plant, two or three feet in height, and in rich soil even more. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 155 

The root is rather large, of a whitish color, giving off many 
fibres. The stem is much branched, forked, spreading, leafy, 
of a yellowish-green color. The leaves are large and smooth, 
from the forks of the stem, and are uneven at the base. The 
flowers are about three inches long, erect, large and white. 
The fruit is a large, dry, prickly capsule, with four valves and 
numerous black, reniform seeds. There is the Datura Tatula, 
or purple Stramonium, which differs from the above in having 
a deep purple stem, etc. 

History. — Stramonium is a well-known poisonous weed, 
growing upon waste grounds and road-sides, iu all parts of the 
United States. It is found in vevy many parts of the world. 
The whole plant has a fetid, narcotic odor, which diminishes as 
it dries. Almost every part of the plant is possessed of me- 
dicinal properties, but the officinal parts are the leaves and 
seeds. The leaves should be gathered when the flowers are full- 
blown, and carefully dried in the shade. They impart their 
properties to water, alcohol, and the fixed oils. The seeds are 
small, reniform, compressed, roughish, dark brown or black 
when ripe, grayish brown when unripe. They yield what is 
called Daturia, which may be obtained by exhausting the 
bruised seeds with boiling, rectified alcohol, and then proceed- 
ing as for the active principle of other seeds of a similar 
character. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Saturn. In large 
doses, it is an energetic, narcotic poison. The victims of this 
poison suffer the most intense agonies, and die in maniacal de- 
lirium. In medicinal doses, it is an anodyne, anti-spasmodic, 
and is often used as a substitute for opium, It is used with 
fair effect in cases of mania, epilepsy, gastritis, delirium tremens, 
and enteritis ; also in neuralgia, rheumatism, and all periodic 
pains. The dried and smoked leaves are useful in spasmodic 
asthma, but as there are other means much more certain to 
cure, and less dangerous, I, and other herbalists seldom or 
never recommend them. Daturia is seldom employed in med- 
icine, being a very active and powerful poison. 



156 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

VANILLA. Vanilla Aromatica. 

Description. — Vanilla Aromatica is a shrubby, climbing, 
aerial parasite, growing* ill the clefts of rocks, or attaching 
itself to the trunks of trees. It suspends itself to contiguous 
objects, and is truly an aerial plant. The stem is round, about 
as thick as the finger, from twenty to thirty feet in length, and 
oftener thicker at the summit than at the base. The flowers 
are yellowish white. The fruit is a species of bean, yellow or 
buff color, of an agreeable aromatic odor ; they must be dried 
with care or they will lose their properties. 

History — Vanilla grows in Mexico and other parts of 
tropical South America. There are several species which are 
supposed to furnish the Vanilla of commerce. It yields its 
virtues to water or alcohol. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Venus. It is an aromatic stimulant, and is used, in infusion, 
in hysteria, rheumatism, and low forms of fever. It is also 
oiled an aphrodisiac, powerfully exciting the generative system. 
Vanilla is said to exhilarate the brain, prevent sleep, increase 
muscular energy, and stimulate the sexual propensities. In 
cases of nervous debility, or sexual impotency, it msjr be 
used with the utmost advantage ; but nut in the forms in which 
it is commonly given, or taken. In order that it may be effec 
live for permanent good, an account of the case which has to 
be tieated should be sent to an herbalist-physician of long 
practice, who, for a slight recompense, can make an excellent 
preparation. Even with a complete descriptk n of how to use 
this bean for the diseases above mentioned, an inexperienced 
person would be likely to make a fatal mistake. The best plan is 
to rely upon those who have made the matter a business and a 
stuuy. 

VELVET LEAF. Cissampelos Pareira. 

Description. — This plant, which is sometimes called the Ice 
vine, is a shrub with a round, ligneous root, stems either smooth, 
or with close pressed down, and climbing over trees. Leaves 
not remarkable. The berries are scarlet. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 157 

History. — This plant is a native of the West India Islands 
and the Spanish Main, and is little known to our botanists. The 
root is the officinal part. It is very difficult to procure it unless 
yon deal extensively in that style of article. 

Government and Virtues— It is under the dominion of 
Saturn, and is tonic, diuretic, and aperient. Used in chronic 
inflammation of the bladder, and all disorders of the urinary 
organs, it cannot, if properly prepared and combined with other 
plants possessing a similar character, fail of perfecting a cure. 
It is also excellent in calculous affections, dropsy, rheumatism, 
and jaundice. All the combinations of this plant, and prepara- 
tions of a curative nature, I make at a moderate cost, when 
apprised of the peculiarities of the case by the patient. 
VERVAIN. (Blue) Verbena Hastata. 

Description. — Vervain, sometimes known by the names of 
Wild Hyssop or Simpler' s Ivy, is an erect, tall, elegant, and 
perennial plant, branched into several parts, rising about from 
two to four feet high, especially if you reckon the long spikes 
of flowers at the tops of them, which are set on all sides, 
one above another, and sometimes two or three together, being 
small and gaping, of a blue color and white intermixed, after 
which come small, round seeds in small and somewhat long 
heads. The stalk and roots are the parts used for medicinal 
purposes. The root, however, is the strongest and best. 

History. — Vervain is indigenous to the United States, and 
grows along road-sides, and in dry, grassy fields, flowering from 
June to September. It is also found in England, growing 
among hedges, by the way-side, and other waste grounds, flow- 
ering in July, and the seeds ripening soon after. 

Government and Virtues. — This is an herb of Venus. " It 
is excellent to strengthen the womb and remedy all its weaknesses/* 
as Culpepper properly remarks, and it is particularly remark, 
able for its cleansing and healing qualities. It will regulate 
mismenstruation most effectually. It will kill and expel internal 
worms, and is a most capital agent for the euro of all diseases 



158 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

of the spleen and liver. If given in intermittent fever in a 
warm infusion or powder it never fails to effect a cure. In all 
cases of cold and obstinate menstruation, it is a most complete 
and advantageous sudorific. When the circulation of the blood 
is weak and languid, it will increase it, and restore it to its 
proper operations. The infusion, taken cold, forms a good tonic 
in cases of constitutional debility, and during convalescence from 
acute diseases. Its value has been found to be great in scrofula, 
visceral obstructions, and stone and gravel. It will correct 
diseases of the stomach, help coughs, wheezing, and shortness 
of breath, etc., but its virtues are more wonderful still in the 
effect they produce upon Epilepsy, or Falling Sickness and Fits. 
The leaves bruised, or the juice of them, mixed with vinegar, 
will remove morphew and freckles. 

The following application is singularly effective in promoting 
the absorption of the blood, effusion in bruises, and allaying the 
attendant pain. Take of Vervain, Senna, and White Pepper, 
of each equal parts, make a cataplasm or plaster, by mixing 
with white of eggs. 

Dose. — Of the powdered root, from one to two scruples. The 
dose of the infusion is from two to four wine-^lassesfui three or 
four times a day, if an emetic is desired. The great — very- 
great — medicinal value of this plant was brought to my atten* 
tion by an accidental knowledge of the good it had effected in 
a long standing case of Epilepsy. Its effects in that case were 
of the most remarkable character, and I was, therefore led to 
study most carefully and minutely its medicinal peculiarities. I 
found, after close investigation and elaborate experiment, that, 
prepared in a certain way, and compounded with boneset, smart 
weed, chamomile blossoms, and the best of whiskey, it has no 
equal for the cure of Fits, or Falling Sickness, or anything like 
Fits 5 also for Indigestion, Dyspepsia, and Liver Complaints of 
every grade. A more valuable plant is not found within the 
whole range of the Herbal pharmacopoea. See " Magic Assim- 
ilant," page 297 ; also illustration* 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 159 

WAFER ASH. Ptelea Trifoliata. 

DescHption. — This plant is also known as Wing- seed \ 
Sucamf) Dogwood, and Shrubby Trefoil It grows from six 
to eight feet in height, with trifoliate leaves. The flowers are 
greenish white, and nearly half an inch in diameter. 

Hiatory. — Wafer Ash, cr Ptelia, is a shrub common to 
America, growing most abundantly west of the Alleghanies, in 
shady, moist places, and edges of woods, and also in rocky 
places. It flowers in June. The bark of the root is officinal 
and yields its virtues to boiling water* Alcohol, however is 
its best solvent. 

Government and Virtues — It is a plant of Mars, although 
neither hot nor biting. It should be gathered in the signs of 
Cancer t Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio, having an almost universal 
application to the "ills which flesh is heir to." It is especially 
tonic and uninitating, It is said to be very useful as a pro- 
moter of the appetite, and as a remedy for general debility. 
It will be tolerated by the stomach when other tonics are rejected. 
Some think it equal, in cases of fever (intermittent) to quinia, 
but I do not; yet it is a most valuable agent, and properly 
applied by those who understand how to adapt its virtues to 
human afflictions, it may be made to do a great deal of good. 
Although most excellent for diseases of the stomach, I use it, 
in conjunction with other plants and preparations, only when an 
especial case seems to call for its employment. There are cases 
in which its virtues are particularly required. Should there be 
any such cases, I can always, for a moderate recompense, 
attend to them either in person or by mail ; as there is no plant 
(foreign or domestic,) mentioned in this book, the free use of 
which I cannot procure at a moment's notice. 
WHITE (AND BLACK) WALNUT. Juglans Cinerea. 

Description. — The White Walnut is also known as the But- 
ternut, Oil Nut, etc., and is indigenous to the United States. 
It grows from thirty to forty feet high, and its diameter is from 
four to five feet. At eight or ten feet from its base, it divides 
into numerous, nearly horizontal, wide spreading branches. 



160 THE COMPLETE HEBBALIST- 

These are covered with a smooth grey bark. The leaves are 
alternate, from twelve to twenty inches long. The nut is of a 
dark color, hard, oblong and pointed. There is a species of this 
tree called the Black Walnut, the nut cf which is globose, and 
sweeter and less oily than the Butternut. 

History. These trees are common to North America. The 
Butternut is found throughout the New England, Middle and 
Western States, on cold, uneven, rocky soils, flowering in April 
and M.iy, and maturing its fruit on or about the middle of 
autumn. Its officinal parts are its leaves and the inner bark of 
the toot. The latter should be gathered from April to July. 
It contains resin, fixed oil, saccharine matter, lime, polassa, a 
peculiar principle, and tannic acid. The Blade Walnut Rowers, 
and ripens its fruit at the same time with the Butternut. 

Government and Virtues. — Both are under the dominion of 
the Sun. Butternut is a gentle and agreeable cathartic, and 
does not induce constipation af er its action. In cases of 
habitual constipation, or other intestinal diseases, it has consid- 
erable value. It is used in decoction, in cases of fever, and in 
the murrain of cat:le. The juice of the rind of the Black 
Walnut will cure herpes, eczemn, porrigo, etc., and a decoction 
of it has been used to remove worms. The European Walnut 
has been found to be efficacious in cases of scrofula, but those 
who read this book carefully, will find better remedies described 
for all branches of that awful affliction. By adding a saturated 
tincture of Butternut bark to twice its volume of water, and 
distilling off the alcohol, an agent is prepared called Jnglandin, 
which is much used in a combination with castile soap. 

WHORTEBERLRY. (BLUE) Raccinium Froxdosto. 

Desertion. — This is a shrub from three lo six feet high, with 
a greyish bark, and round, smooth, slender, and divergent 
branches. Tne leaves are pale and covered with minute resinous 
dots. The flowers are small and reddish white. Fruit large, 
globose, and dark blue, and sweet and edible. The Black 
Whortleberry is nearly the same, and both plants produce fruit; 
of the same qualities. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 161 

History. — These plants are common to the northern part of 
the United States. The fruit or berries, and the bark of the 
root, are the parts used ; they yield their virtues to water. 

Government and Virtues, — They are under the influence of 
Mercury. They are diuretic and astringent, and are useful, in 
any shape, in scurvy, dysentery, and diarrhoea. The decoction 
cf the bark is much used in leucorrhcea. ; but it is merely a 
palliative and will not make a cure. 

WORMWOOD. Artemisia Absinthium. 

Description. — This is a perennial plant, wita a woody root, 
branched at the crown, and having numerous fibres below. 
The whole herb is covered with close, silky huariness ; the stems 
are numerous, bushy, and from one to two feet in height. Their 
lower part exists for some years, from which young shoots 
spring forth every year, decaying in cold weather. 

History — Wormwood grows nearly all over the world, — from 
the United States to Siberia. It flowers from June to Septem- 
ber. The tops and leaves are the parts used. The dried herb, 
with the flowers has a whitish grey appearance, a strong, 
aromatic odor, and is extremely bitter to the taste. Alcohol or 
water takes up i:s active principles. It yields what is kuown 
to druggists as Absinthine. 

Government and Virtues. — It is under the dominion of 
Saturn, and is anthelmintic, tonic, and narcotic. It is used for 
many diseases, among which may be enumerated intermittent 
fever, jfiundice, worms, want of appetite, amenorrhea, chronic 
leucorrhcea, obstinate diarrhoea, etc. It is also used externally 
in country places as a fomentation for sprains, bruises, and local 
inflammations. Taken, too often, or in large quantities, it will 
irritate tbe stomach, and dangerously increase the action of the 
heart and arteries. It is, however, like all other medicinal herbs 
and plants most excellent when its use is prescribed and regu- 
lated by an experienced and conscientious professional physician, 
who understands the value of Herbal preparations. 

WORMWOOD. (SEA OR HOLY) Seripliran. 
Description. — This plant grows near the sea, and is somewhat 



162 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

rare ; therefore it is more highly esteemed than the common 
Wormwood. I give an illustration of it in another part of this 
book because of its value, beauty and rarity. 

History — It grows, as I have said above, near the sea in 
various parts of Europe, and is very costly to those who do not 
live where it inhabits, as the task of gathering it is both arduous 
and perplexing, and the yield is always scanty. 

Government and Virtues. — It is a plant of Mars. " It 
provokes urine," says Culpepper, " helps surfeits, or swellings 
in the belly, and causes appetite to meat." For nervous debility, 
there is probably nothing like it in the world. Compounded 
with Rosemary, Blackthorn, and other vegetable products, by a 
method which it has cost me a good many years of severe study 
and experiments to bring to perfection, it is invaluable as a 
life restorative. It is also most useful for liver complaints ; but 
as there are many other plants and herbs better, and it is so 
rare, I do not use it in such cases ; but in all cases of nervous 
prostration, and loss of ordinary vigor either of mind or body, 
prepared with other herbal remedies to which I have made allu- 
sions under the proper headings, it is truly an Elixir of Life. 
There is no better invigorator extant for certain painful and 
annoying afflictions which need not be here described, but the 
nature of which will be readily understood. 

YARROW. Achillea Millefolium. 

Description. — Yarrow, also called Milfoil, Nosebleed, and 
Thousand Seal, is from ten to twenty inches high, with a simple 
stem, branching at the top, and many long leaves spread upon 
the ground, finely cut, and divided into many parts. The flowers 
are white or rose-colored, and arrayed in knots upon divers 
green stalks, which arise from among the leaves. 

History. — Yarrow inhabits Europe and North America ; is 
found in pastures, meadows, and along road-sides, flowering from 
May to October. The plant possesses a faint, pleasant, peculiar 
fragrance, and a rather sharp, rough, astringent taste, which 
properties are due to tannic and achilleic acid, essential oil and 
bitter extractive, alcohol or water being its proper meustrum. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 163 

Government and Virtues — Yarrow is under the influence of 
Venus. It is astringent, alterative, and diuretic, in decoction. 
It is efficacious in bleeding from the lungs, and other hemorrha- 
ges, incontinence of uiiue, piles, and dysentery. It is valuable 
in amencri hcea, or suppressed or restrained menses, flatulency, 
and spasmodic diseases. It forms a useful injection in leucorr- 
lioea or whites, also in menorrhagia, or profuse or too long 
continued menstruation. An ointment cures wounds, ulcers, 
fistulas, and the head bathed in a decoction prevents the falling 
out of the hair ; while the leaves chewed in the mouth will 
frequently ease the tooth-ache. Achilles is supposed to be the 
first that left the virtues of this herb to posterity, hence the 
active principle of this plant is called Achillcine, which is much 
used as a substitute for quinia iu iutermittent fevers, in the 
South of Europe. 

AcliiUea Farmica, or Sneeze-wort, has leaves entirely different 
from the Yarrow, and should not be mistaken one for the other. 
The whole of this plant is pungent, exciting an increased flow of 
saliva ; and the powder of the dried leaves, when snuffed into 
the nost:ils, produces sneezing, which is supposed to be owing to 
their small, sharp, and marginal teeth. 

Dose. — The infusion of Yarrow is given in doses of from a 
wine-glassful to a tea-cupful, three or four times a day ; the 
essential oil from five to tweuty drops. In menorrhagia or 
profuse menstruation, a tablespoonful of the saturated tincture 
may be giveu three or four times a day. 

I do not wish it understood that the foregoing descriptions 
form a complete list of plants, of which nature has furnished 
countless numbers, but I do wish it remembered that I have 
given an account of all that I consider and know to he of 
real medicinal value. Nearly all these can be obtained in 
this country. I must, however, impress upon the reader the 
fact that these plants should be gathered at the proper times, 
and under correct planetary and climatic influences, and I 
take occasion to say that it would be better if they were collected 
by a physician who- thoroughly understands the Herbu.1 



164 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Practice ! because, if so collected and prepared together in such 
forms as his studies and experience may dictate, they will cure 
all the diseases that afflict humanity. If gathered at the wrong 
times, and by inexperienced parties, they will not, of course, 
impart their beneficial, or curative virtues. Or, even if collected 
by competent persons, and kept over one year, they will possess 
no real merit. I would particularly warn my readers against 
the use of plants and herbs which are for sale in places where 
they are doubtless kept for several years. These, as a general 
thing, are not gathered at the proper limes, or, if they are, are 
kept so long that they lose all their original proper; ies ; but any 
person can gather these herbs and plants without much trouble, 
in their original excellence and at the proper times. In 
order that they may do this, I have given all the necessary 
information as to times, seasons, qualities, places of growth^ 
varieties of names, and also furnishing a series of beautiful 
colored illustrations by which those who may not understand the 
written description clearly can have a clue to the plant which 
will not fail them. I frequently have applications, from all 
quarters, for these plants and herbs, and it is with great regret 
that I here insert the fact that I cannot furnish them. Many 
of them are rare and scarce, but of even the commonest, I can 
0P.I3' procure enough, by the greatest expense aud exertion, to 
supply the imperative demands of my laboratory. I am some- 
times compelled to undergo almost too much expense to procure 
the material from which I manufacture my several remedies. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 165 

VALUABLE HERBAL RECIPES. 



In the following pages will be found a variety of recipes for 
inch diseases aud nfll ctions as usually prevail in all parts of the 
world. These are given for the benefit of these who are not 
within range of regular medical attendance, or who may desire 
palliation and safety while awaiting answers to their commu- 
nications to physicians miles away. The recipes given can be 
easily made up, and the advice given with them can be readily 
mule available. Many — very many— other valuable recipes 
have been omitted, from the fact that the plants and herbs which 
iorra their chief ingredients are not to be obtained in this 
country, as they are imported only by myself, 

GOLDEN TINCTURE. 

No. 1 Balsam of tolu, two ounces; gum guaiacum, two 
ounces; gum hemlock, two ounces; gum myrrh, two ounces; 
each coarsely powdered ; oil of hemlock, three ounces ; oil of 
wintergrcen, two ounces ; alcohol, one gallon. Let it stand 
fourteen days. Shake frequently in the meantime. 

Dose. — From one to two teaspoonsful, according to severity 
and obstinacy of the case, in half a glass of sweetened water. This 
mixture has proved highly useful as an internal remedy for rheu- 
matism, colic, pains, chills, soreness, lameness, sour stomach, 
languor, depressed spirits, palpitations, water brash, flatulency, 
and a variety of painful affections. 

PULMONARY REMEDY. 

No. 2. Take of the roots of spikenard, elecampane, comfrey, 
and blood-root : of the leaves and flowers of hoarhound, and of the 
bark of wild cherry, each one pound. These may all be ground 
and tinctured, by adding alcohol, water, and sugar sufficient to 
make three gallons of syrup, or auy portion of the above com- 
pound may be tinctured in sufficient alcohol to cover them, when 
the herbs may be boiled until their strength is obtained, and the 
tincture and watery infusion may be mixed, and a sufficient 



166 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

amount of refined sugar added to make a thick syrup. For 
coughs and colds, to be taken in teaspoonful doses as required. 
This remedy will act as a useful substitute for my prepared 
cure, the " Acacian Balsam/' in such parts of the country as 
are without Express conveniences. It is, however, by no mems 
equal to the " B >lsam," and I do not say that it will save life 
where the lungs are really ulcerated. 

LIVER CORDIAL. 

No. 3. Thorough-wort, two ounces ; ginger, half ounce ; 
cloves, half ounce ; extract dandelion, four ounces ; water, one 
aud one-half pints. Boil to one-third, and add, sugar, one and 
one-half pounds, and brandy, one pint. 

Dose — A wine-glassful once or twice a day. An excellent 
cordial cathartic to act upon the liver. The herbs must be 
gathered at the proper season or they will be worthless. 
ANTI-BILIOUS PILL. 

No. 4. Aloes, pulverized, five ounces ; fine dry castile soap, 
half a drachm ; gamboge, pulverized, one ounce ; colocynth, one 
ounce ; extract of gentian, one ounce ; mandrake, one ounce ; 
cayenne pepper two ounces ; oil of peppermint, half a drachm. 
Mix well together, and form into three grain pills. 
Dose. — Three to five pills. 

AN EXPECTORANT. 

No. 5. For asthma and cough, to promote expectoration, 
and remove tightness of the chest, the following is a valuable 
compound preparation. Fluid extract of skunk cabbage, one 
ounce; lobelia, one ounce ; blood-root, one ounce ; pleurisy-root^ 
one ounce ; ginger, one ounce ; water, one pint ; alcohol, three 
pin's. 

Dose. — Two to four teaspoonsful. 

FOR PRODUCING SLEEP. 

No. 6. The following is a useful preparation for producing 
sleep, in wakeful or excited coudiiions, viz : fluid extract of 
ladies' slipper, one ounce ; fluid extract of pleurisy-root, one 
ounce; fluid extract of skunk cabbage, one ounce; fluid 
extract scull-cap, one ounce. Mix. 



THE COMPLETE HEEBALIST. 167 

Dose — Hlf a drachm to a drachm three times a day. 
FOR SICK AND NERVOUS HEADACHE. 
No 7. For sick and nervous headache, dependent on an 
acid stomach, the following is useful : fluid extract of ladies* 
slipper, half an ounce ; fluid extract of catnip, half an ounce ; 
fluid extract of scull-cap, half an ounce; water, one pint. 
Dose. — One to three teaspoonsful. Mix. 
TONIC TINCTURE. 
No. 8. Old cider, four gallons ; white oak bark, ten 
ounces ; horse-radish root, one pound ; seneca snake-root, six 
ounces; goldenseal root, four ounces; cayenne pepper, two 
ounces ; bruise all fine, add the cider, let stand for ten days, fre- 
quently shaking up the mixture in the meantime. 

Dose. — For an adult, half to two-thirds of a wine-glassful, 
three times a day. 

SARSAPARILLA SYRUP. 

No. 9. Good sarsaparilla, two pounds ; guaiacum, three 
ounces ; rose leaves, two ounces ; senna, two ounces ; liquorice 
root, two ounces ; oil of sassafras, five drops ; oil of aniseed, 
five drops ; oil of wintergreen, three dr ;ps ; diluted alcohol, 
ten pints; sugar eight pounds. 

Dose. — A table-spoonful two or three times a day 
RHEUMATIC TINCTURE. 
No. 10. Peppermint water, one and one-half ounces : 
wine of colchicum root, half an ounce ; sulphate of morphine f 
one grain ; magnesia, one scruple. 

Dose. — Oue teaspoonful three or four times a day. 

FOR BRONCHITIS. 
No. 11. Tannin, three grains ; extract of belladonna, 
three-fourths of a grain ; extract of conium two and a half 
grains ; infusion of senna, three ounces; fennel water, one and 
a half ounces ; syrup of marsh-mallow, one and a half ounces. 
Mix. 

Dose. — A table-spoonful to be taken every two hours in 
chronic bronchitis. 



263 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

COMPOUND SPIRITS OF LAVENDER. 

No. 12. D ied lavender flowers, two drachms; nutmeg, 
two drachms ; mace, two drachms ; cloves, two ounces ; 
cinnamon, two ounces. Pulverize all these, and add a quart 
of spirits. Let it theu stand for a week, and then strain off the 
liquid. 

Dose. One or two teaspoonsful may be taken often in a little 

water, with loaf sugar. Useful in nervous affections. 

NERVE TONIC. 
No. 13. Extract of scull-cap, two drachms ; extract of 
chamomile, two drachms; extract of boneset, one drachm; 
pulverised cayenne, one scruple; quinine, one drachm; oil of 
valerian, half a drachm. Beat well together, and make ninety 
pills. 

Dose. — For an adult, one pill every two or thrce^hours. 

STOMACHIC BITTERS. 

No. 14. Gentian root, two ounces ; dried orange peel, 
one ounce; cardamom seed, half an ounce, (all br .ised) ; diluied 
alcohol or common whiskey, one quart. Let it stand lor two 



j7 8 e._Dyspepsia, loss of appetite, general weakness, etc. 
Dose.— One or two table spoonsful in water, three times a 

day. 

FEVER AND AGUE. 

No. 15. T ke of boneset, twoouuees; blue vervain, two 
ounces; scull cap, one ounce; Virgin! i snake-root, half an 
ounce. Make an infusion and drink freely while warm. If it 
produces vomiting, reduce the dose. This will be found highly 
beneficial. If the bowels are cousiipated, use one of my " Ren. 
ovating Pills " every night until all constipation has been removed 
or remedied. 

STRENGTHENING PLASTER. 

No. 16. Resin, one pound ; beeswax, one ounce ; bur- 
gundy pitch, one ounce ; mutton tallow, one ounce. Melt them 
together, and add olive oil, pulverized camphor, and sassafras 



! 







* " * 





THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 1(>9 

oil, of each one-sixteenth of an ounce, and West India rum, one 
fluid ounce. Stir well together, pour iuto cold water, and form 
into rolls with the hands ; spread with a knife on a piece of linen 
cloth, and apply in weakness of the joints, rheumatism, weak 
chest, weak back, ulcers. This is an excellent plaster for all 
such purposes. 

ACETIC BLOODROOT SYRUP. 

No. 17. Blood-root in powder, one drachm ; acetic acid, 
or vinegar, one pint ; water, one pint. Add the blood-root to 
the vinegar and water mixed, and steep for two hours, then 
strain and add two pounds of white sugar, simmer until a syrup 
*s formed. 

This is a specific remedy for pseudo-membranous croup. It 
is also used iu infantile pneumonia and bronchitis, but the l< Aca- 
cian Balsam n should be used with it. 

Dose. — For Croup, from half a teaspoonful to a table-spoonful, 
but it should not be given in quantities sufficient to provoke 
vomiting, unless there is imminent danger of suffocation, and 
then only sufficient to eject the mucous adhering to the upper 
part of the bronchii and trachea. 

A GOOD EMETIC. 
No. 18. Pulverised lobelia, one ounce ; pulverised 
blood root, one ounce ; pulv, ipecacuanha, six drachms ; pulv. 
cayenne, four scruples ; seneca, one scruple. Mix. An excel- 
lent emetic in all cases where one is required. My "Renovating 
Pills" should be used to cleanse the system of all remaining 
particles of lobelia. 

Dose. — Half a teaspoonful in a cup of warm water, and 
repeat every fifteen minutes, until it operates. 

NERVE TONIC AND ANTI-SPASMODIC. 
No. 19. High cranberry bark, one ounce; skunk cabbage- 
root, half an ounce ; scull-cap, half an ounce ; cardamom seeds* 
two drachms ; pulv. cayenne, two drachms. Put these into a 
pint of wine. Shake it well every day for three or four days. 

Dose. — A table-spoonful four times a day. 

8 



170 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

DYSENTERY SYRUP. 

No. 20. Best Turkey rhubarb, two drachms; leptandrin, 

two drachms ; white sugar, one pound ; hot water, one pint. 

Triturate well together; add essence of peppermint, one drachm; 

essence of anise, oue drachm ; tincture of catechu, two drachms. 

Dose. — For dysentery, one teaspoonful every half hour. 

COUGH PREPARATION. 
No. 21. Tincture of lobelia, half an ounce ; tincture of 
blood-root, two ounces ; oil of spearmint, half a drachm 5 
molasses, five ounces. 

Dose — Take one-half of a teaspoonful as often as needed. 
Useful merely as a palliative. N 

PULMONARY SYRUP. 

No. 22. Spikenard root, sixteen ounces ; white root, six" 
teen ounces ; blood root, eight ounces ; elecampane, eight 
ouuces ; colts-foot, eight ounces ; boneset, eight ounces ; 
poplar bark, four ounces ; seneca snake root, two ounces ; 
lobelia, two ounces ; slippery elm bark, eight ounces ; proof 
spirits, three gallons. Bruise or pulverise all, and digest in the 
spirits for fourteen days ; then strain, and add white sugar suffi- 
cient to form a syrup. 

Dose. — A tablespoonful occasionally, in a mucilage of slip- 
pery elm. 

Use. — This is a fair relief in all coughs and pulmonary 
affections. 

CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE MUCOUS SURFACES. 
No. 23. Hard balsam copaiba, three and a half drachms* 
fresh g;ound cubebs, three and a half drachms; carbonate of 
ammonia one drachm. Make one hundred pills. 
Dose. — One pill three times a day, between meals. 
LINIMENT FOR CHILBLAINS. 
No. 24. Sulphuric acid, one drachm; spirits of turpentine f 
one drachm ; olive oil, three drachms. Mix the oil and turpen- 
tine first, then gradually add the sulphuric acid. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 171 

A valuable liniment for chilblains when no other can be 
obtained. To be rubbed on two or three times a day. 

LINIMENT FOR NEURALGIA, ETC. 
No. 25. Sweet oil, one ounce ; water of ammonia, strong, 
one ounce. Mix. To be rubbed on with a piece of flannel. A 
temporary relief for crick in the neck, and rheumatic and 
neuralgic pains. 

SLEEPLESSNESS. 
No. 26. Camphor, one grain, formed into a pill, followed 
by a draught of an ounce and a half of the infusion of hops, 
with five drops of sulphuric ether. 

CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 

No. 27. The remedies given below will be found generally 
useful : 

First. — Warm salt bath. When the pain is very severe at 
night, take tincture of guaiacum, one drachm; tincture of 
aloes, half a drachm ; spirits of turpeutine, three drachms. 
Mix, and take in a pint of gruel at bedtime. 

Second. — Should the pains continue very severe, give the 
following ; — Aloes, half a scruple ; opium, three grams ; syrup 
of buckthorn sufficient to form a pill mass. Mix, and make 
three pills ; one at bed-time. 

Third. — Compound powder of ipecacuanha, eight grains ; 
camphor mixture, one and a half ounces. Mix, and give a 
draught every night. 

Fourth — Take wine of colchieum seeds, one ounce; give 
from ten to twenty drops in gruel or water three times a day, 
a ith one of the followiug pills : — Sulphate of quinine, twenty- 
four grains ; and syrup sufficient to form iuto twelve pills ; or : 

Fifth. — Iodide of potash, one drachm ; distilled water, two 
ounces. 

Mix, and give a teaspoonful in a wine-glass of water — morn- 
ing, noon, and ni^ht. Tbis seldom ever f >ils to give relief. 

REMEDY FOR BOWEL COMPLAINT. 
No. 28. Rhubarb, pulverised, one ounce : salaratus, one 



172 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

teaspoonful : pour on a pint of boiling water. When cold, add 

a table-spoonful of essence of peppermint. 

Dose. — From one to three table-spoonsful two or three times 

a day. 

WORM MIXTURE. 

No. 29. Populin, one drachm : santonin, twenty grains : 
tincture of pink root, four ounces : neutralizing mixture, one 
pint. Rub the santonin in the neutralizing mixture, until 
thoroughly mixed, then add the other ingredients. Excellent 
for removing worms in children. 

Dose. — From thirty to forty drops every half hour, until it 
acts on the bowels as a purge. If the worms are not removed, 
repeat every two or three days ; but be cautious to get good 
pink root, as ranch of the plant sold for piuk root by the drug- 
gists is poisonous. 

PAINFUL MENSTRUATION. 

No. 30. Extract of hyoscyamus, gum camphor, and 
dover's powders, of each one scruple. Mix, and make into 
twenty pills. 

Dose. — One pill twice a day for painful menstruation. 

STOMACH PILL. 

No. 31. — Pulverised rhubarb, and guaiacum, of each eight 
grains : galbanum, two grains : ipecacuanha, two grains. Mix, 
and make eight pills. 

Dose. — Take one or two pill3, night and morning. Excellent 
for a weak stomach, and a bilious condition. 

BRONCHIAL TROCHES. (For Temporary Relief ) 
No. 32. Extract of liquorice, one pound : sugar, one and 
a half pounds : cubebs, four ounces ; gum arabic, four ounces : 
all pulverised : extract of conium, one ounce. Mix, and take 
a piece as big as a pea and dissolve it in the mouth, several 
times a day ; rubbing the neck three times a day with the 
"Ethereal Ointment." 

DIARRHOEA. 
No. 33. Syrup of orange peel, one ounce ; acetate of mor- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 173 

pliine, two grains ; tincture of cinnamon, six drachms ; tine ure 
of cardamom, two drachms. Mix. 

Done. — A teaspoouful. Valuable in diarrhoea. 

NEURALGIA. 
No. 34. Tincture of American hellebore, one drachm ; 
tincture of black cohosh, two ounces. Mix. 

Dose. — One te-ispoonful, from three to six times a day. 

PILE OINTMENT. 
No. 35. Extract of stramonium, one ounce ; extract of 
tobacco, oue ouuee ; tannin, ten grains. M.ike an ointment, 
and bathe or lubricate the parts, if you cannot at ouce get the 
11 Etheriai Ointment." 

STOMACHIC PILL. 

36. Powdered cayenne pepper, oue drachm ; rhubarb, 
two drachms. Make into a mass with syrup, and divide into 
sixty pills. 

Dose. — -Two to three every day, an hour before dinner. 

AROMATIC BITTERS. (Stimulant.) 
No. 37 First. — Absinthium. ( Wormwood.) Infuse three 
drachms in twenty ounces of water. 

Dose. — From a half to two tablespoonsful. 
Use. — In debilitated state of the digestive organs. 
Second. — Acorus — Calamus, (Sweet flag root.) Infuse one 
ounce in twenty ouuees of water. Joined with other tonics. 
Use. — In uneasiness from flatulence. 

TONIC TEA. (Debility.) 
No. 38. Chamomile, scuii-cup, and queen of the meadow, 
each oue pound. Reduce them to powder, and mix well 
together. 

Dose. — To one tablespoonful of this powder add one pint of 
water ; make a tea and drink during the day. This is a good 
tonic in all cases of debility. 

SPICED BITTERS. (For weak patients.) 
No. 39. Poplar bark, ten pounds; u ay berry oark, two 
pounds ; baimony bark, two pounds ; golden-seal, one pound ; 



174 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

cloves, one pound ; cayenne pepper, half a pound ; loaf sugar, 
sixteen pounds. 

Let these articles all be made fine and well mixed. Put a 
table-spoonful of this compound, with four ounces of sugar, into 
a quart of boiling water. Take a wine-glassful three times a 
day before eating, or a teaspoonful of these powders may be 
taken in a cup of hot water, half an hour before each meal. 
TONIC. ( For Chlorosis, or Green Sickness.) 
No. 40. Sulphate of quinine, fifteen grains : diluted sul- 
phuric acid, fifteen drops : compound tincture of cardamom, 
three drachms : tincture of bops, three drachms : compouud 
infusion of roses, six ounces. Mix. 

Dose. — A teaspoonful two or theee times a day. 
HARD DRY COUGH. 
No. 41. Tincture of blood-root, one ounce ; sulphate of 
morphine, one and a half grains : tincture of digitalis, half an 
ounce ; wine of antimony, half an ounce : oil of wintergreen, 
ten drops. Mix. 

Dose. — From twenty to forty drops, two or three times a 
day. Very good relief for a hard dry, cough. 

TINCTURE FOR FEVER AND AGUE, ETC. 
No. 42. Peruvian bark, and wild cherry bark, each two 
ounces ; cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, each oue drachm ; wine, 
two quarts. Let it stand for a few days to extract the strength. 
Dose. — A wine-glassful every two or three hours. 
Use. — A very good remedy for intermittent fever, or fever and 
ague, after suitable evacuauts. It frequently removes the 
disease when all other means fail. 

ANTISPASMODICS. 
Mistura Camphors. (Aqua Gamphorce, U. S.) 
No. 43. First. — Camphor, two drachms ; alcohol, forty 
drops : carbonate magnesia, four drachms; distilled water, two 
pints. 

Dose. — One to two tablespoonsful. 

Use. — In typhoid conditions, with delirium, for after-pains. 
Tinct. Camphors Comp. (Faragoric Elix. Tine. Opii Camph.) 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 175 

Second, — Pulverized opium, one drachm ; benzoic acid, one 
drachm ; oil of aniseed, one drachm ; sug \r, two ounces ; 
camphor, two scruples ; diluted alcohol, two pints. Macerate 
for fourteen days. Half a drachm contains kss than one grain 
of opium. 

Dose. — For infants, from five to twenty drops ; adults, one 
to two tablespoonsful. 

Use. — To allay cough or nausea, to check diarrhoea, to relieve 
pains. 

Moschus. Preputial secretion of the musk animal. 

Dose Mid form — Five to ten grains, in pill, bolus, or 
emulsion. 

Use. — Hiccough, epilepsy, asthma, cough, palpitation. 

TONIC AND CATHARTIC. 
No. 44. Aloes, gentian, orange peel, juniper berries, and 
bruised aniseed, each one ounce ; gin, one pint. Mix. Macer- 
ate tor two weeks, and then strain. 

Dose. — A tablespoonful once or twice a day. Good for 
bilious habits. 

DISCUTIENT OINTMENT. 
(For scrofulous and glandular tumors.) 

No. 45. Bark of bitter-sweet root, stramonium leaves, 
cicuta leaves, deadly nightshade, and yellow dock root, each two 
ounces ; lard, one pound. Bruise and simmer the roots and 
leaves in spirits ; then add the lard, and simmer till the ingre- 
dients are crisped or thickened into an ointment. 
COUGH MIXTURE. 
No. 46. Syrup of tolu, one ounce ; syrup of squills, half 
an ounce ; wine of ipecac, two drachms ; paregoric, three 
drachms ; gum arabic mucilage, one and a half ounces. Mix. 
Dose. — Take a teaspoonfui occasionally. 

GARGLES. 
No. 47. First. — Raspberry leaves, geranium, blackberry 
root, and leptandrin root, each one ounce. Mix and make 
three pints of strong decoction. Suitable for a gargle. 



176 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Second. — Geranium, golden-seal, marsh-mallow, wild indigo 
root, and rosemary, each half an ounce. Mix, and make on© 
pint of strong infusion. After straining, add two drachms of 
powdered boiax, and one gill of honey. An excellent astringent 
gargle. 

HONEY BALSAM. 
No. 48. Balsam of tolu, balsam of fir, each two ounces ; 
opium, two drachms. Dissolve ail three in one quart of 
alcohol. 

Dose. — A tea spoonful occasionally. Valuable for the relief 
of pulmonary diseases. 

ANTI-DYSENTERY CORDIAL. 
No. 49. Birch bark, and peach pits, each two pounds ; 
bayberry bark, half a pound ; wild cherry bark, one pound ; 
water, two gallons. Boil down to one and a half gallons, after 
which add a gallon of gocd brandy, and loaf sugar sufficient to 
make it palatable. 

Dose. — A wineglassful three or four times a day. 
FOR GRAVEL, DROPSY, ETC. 
No. 50. Queen of the meadow, milk-weed, juniper berries, 
dwarf elder, spearmint, wild earrot seed, of each two ounces. 
Put all in a mortar and bruise, and boil the whole in a gallon of 
water, till half a gallon of the liquid is left, and then strain. 

Dose. — Half a pint of the decoction is to be taken several 
times during the day. 

COUGH SYRUP. 
No. 51. Acetate of morphine, four grains ; tincture of 
blood-root, two drachms ; antimonial wine, three drachms ; 
ipecacuanha, three drachms ; syrup of wild cherry, three 
ounces ; Mix. 

Dose. — A tea spoonful two or three times a day. 
FOR THE LONG ROUND WORM OF CHILDREN, 
No. 52. Pulverised rue, ten grains ; santonin, five grains; 
podophyllin, one grain. Rub well together ; divide into eight 
powders, and give one every ni^ht and morning. 

DIARRHOEA. 
No. 53. Tincture of catechu, half an ounce ; spirits of 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 177 

camphor, tincture of myrrh, and tincture of cayenne, each two 
drachms* Mix. 

Dose.— From half a teaspoonful to a teaspoonfal in Diarrhoea. 

INJECTION. 
No. 54. Castor oil, one gill; pulv. cayenne, ten grains ; 
table salt, one teaspoonful; molasses, one gill; warm water, 
one pint. Inject. 

THE BLUES, OR LOW SPIRITS. 
No. 55. A pleasant cordial for low spirits is the follow- 
ing:— Aniseed, four drachms; oil of angelica, one drachm; 
oil of cassia, forty drops ; oil of carraway, thirty drops ; proof 
spirits, two gallons. Mix well. 

Dose.— Half a tablespoonful in water. 
SKIN DISEASES WITH MUCH IRRITATION. 
No. 56. Decoctions of bitter-sweet and mallows, of each 
half a pint ; mix and make a liniment. Use the Renovating 
Piils internally. 

CHILBLAIN OINTMENT. 
No. 57. Lard, two quarts ; turpentine, one pint ; camphor, 
quarter of a pound. Rub into the parts. This will be found a 
capital remedy. 

ACIDITY OP THE STOMACH. 
No. 58. Hard wood ashes, one quart; common soot, half 
a gill ; water, six pints. Digest, settle, and filter. 

Dose. — Take one tablespoonful three times a day, in acidity 
of the stomach. 

HEMORRHOIDS. PILES. 
No. 59. Opium, one scruple ; pulverised nut-galls, one 
drachm ; ointment althe;a3. Mix, and anoiut the parts. 

SORE THROAT. 
No, 60. Those subject to sore-throat should make a wash 
of warm water, in which wood-ashes have been dissolved, and 
apply externally every morning. The "Ethereal Ointment " 
should be applied at night, and well rubbed in. If the disease 
has become permanent or chronic, the u Acacian Balsam" must 

be used according to directions. (See page 285.) 

8* 



178 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

INJECTION FOR COSTIVENESS. 
. No. 61. Castor oil, two ounces ; tincture of prickly ash 
bark, half an ounce ; compound tincture of Virginia snake root, 
two drachms ; infusion of boneset and senna, equal parts, half 
a pint. Mix, and inject. It is, by no means, however, as good 
as the "Renovating Pills." See page 294. 
TO PRODUCE PERSPIRATION. 
No. 62. Blood-root, golden-seal, sumach-berries, bayberry 
bark, of each two drachms ; all pulverised. Mix. 

Dose. — Make an iufusion in a pint of hot water, and give a 
table-spoonful every half hour. 

POULTICE FOR A FESTER. 
No. 63. Boil bread in the settlings of strong beer ; apply 
the poultice in the common manner. This has saved many an 
hour of suffering. 

CATAPLASMS, OR POULTICES. 
No. 64. May be made by moistening bread crumbs with 
milk. They may also be made of flax-seed, roasted onions, 
snake-root, hops, etc. 

Poultices are useful in nearly all cases of local inflammation. 
TOOTHACHE. 
No. 65. Gum opium, gum camphor, spirits of turpentine, 
each one scruple. Rub in a mortar to a paste. Put it in the 
hollow tooth. 

Use. — This will cure and ever prevent the toothache. 
A FRAGRANT BREATH. 
No. 66. Take sherry wine, one gill ; ground cloves, and 
grated nuimeg, each one drachm ; cinnamon, and bruised cara- 
way seeds, each a quarter of an ounce. Place all these dry 
substances into the wine or spirits, in a half pint bottle, and let 
them stand for several days, shaking the bottle every night and 
morning. Strain off the tincture through linen to get it 
bright, then add about ten drops of lavender, or five drops of 
the otio of roses. 

A few drops on a lump of sugar dissolved in the mouth, will 
secure a breath of flowers. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 179 

It may be also used with advantage on the tooth-brush, in 
lieu of tooth powder, or, mixed with water it makes an excel- 
lent gargle. 

FOOT BATH. 
No. 67. A bucket of warm water ; pulv. cayenne pepper, 
one tablespoonfui ; ground mustard, two tablespoonsful. Mix. 
Use. — As a foot bath in suppression of menses. 

TO IMPROVE THE VOICE. 
No. 68. Beeswax, two drachms ; balsam of copaiba, 
three drachms ; powdered liquorice root, four drachms. Melt 
the copaiba with the wax in a new earthen pipkin. When they 
are melted, remove them from the fire, and while in a liquid 
state, mix in the powdered liquorice. 

Make pills of three grains each. Two of these pills to be 
taken occasionally, or three or four times a day, if necessary. 

Use. — This is a good remedy for clearing and cleaning the 
voice and is much used by professional singers. 

HEADACHE, NEURALGIC PAINS. 
No. 69. Take of opodeldoc, spirits of wine, salamoniac, 
equal parts, and apply like any other lotion. 

STINGS. 
No. 10. Bind on the place a thick plaster of common salt 
or salaratus moistened ; it will soon extract the vemon. 

A STOMACHIC. 
No. 71. Fresh ground cubebs. 
Dose. — From five to twenty grains. 

Use. — As a stomachic in disorders of the digestive organs. 
MUSTARD POULTICES. 
No. 12. These are prepared by adding one tablespoonfui 
of mustard to three of flour, mixing with equal parts of water 
and vinegar. 

Use. — They are beneficially employed to attract the blood 
from the deep-seated or inward, to the superficial or outward 
capillaries, or hair-like veins or arteries. 



180 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

OFFENSIVE BREATH. 
No. 73. Solution chloride of sodium, six drops; water, 
two ounces. Mix. 

Use. — A sure remedy for an offensive breath emanating from 
a deranged stomach. 

ANTIDOTE FOR RATTLESNAKE POISON. 
No. 74. The Medical Journal says the following is an 
infallible cure for the poisou of a rattlesnake bite. Iodide of 
potass, four grains ; corrosive sublimate, two grains ; bromine, 
five drachms. Mix together, and keep the mixture in a glass- 
stoppered vial, well secured. 

Dose.— Ten drops of this mixture, diluted with a tablespoon- 
full of brandy, constitutes a dose. The quantity to be repeated, 
if necessary, according to the exigencies of the case. 

FOR CANCER. 
No. 75. Take equal parts of fresh poke-weed, yellow dock, 
and blood-root \ evaporate the juice by the means of a sand 
bath, to the consistency of tar. The ointment should be 
applied, after the cuticle has been removed by a blister, three 
times a day, The parts should be washed with good French 
brandy after each application of the ointment. If the reader 
finds it impossible to make this remedy, please write me full 
particulars of the case. 

FOR HIP DISEASE. 
No. 76. Take Iodine, one ounce j phosphate of lime, two 
ounces ; water, one pint. Dissolve the iodine and lime 
the water, and add twenty grains of tannin. Inject with a 
small syringe three or four times a day. 

Use.— A valuable injection in hip disease, where the head of 
the bone is decayed. 

FOR BRUISES. 

No. 77. Take pulv. slippery elm, and pulv. indigo weed, 
each one pound ; gum myrrh, half a pound ; pulv. prickly ash, 
a quarter of a pound. Wet with good brewer's yeast and 
a PP I y- A very good poultice for bruises. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 181 

FOR DIPTHERIA. 

No. 78. Saturated tincture of scrofulaire, one drachm, 
added to half a tumbler of water. 

Triturated maciotyn, twenty grains ;. added to a tumbler full 
of water. 

Dose,— One teaspoonful of each every hour. 
GARGLE FOR THE ELONGATION OF THE UVULA. 
No. 79. Fluid extract of rhusin, one drachm ; fluid 
extract of bayberry, two drachms ; water, two ounces. Mix, 
and gargle the throat three or four times a day. Also bathe 
the throat upon the outside in strong salt and water. 
OINTMENT FOR THE ITCH. 
No. 80. Take of sublimed sulphur, two parts; of subcar- 
bonate of potash, one part ; of lard eight parts. Make into an 
ointment and apply freely. 

TO REMOVE WARTS AND CORNS. 
No. 81. Apply the juice of the leaves of the great 
celandine or tetter-wort, and keep applying until the fungus 
growth is removed. 

FOR THE TEETH. 
No. 82. Make charcoal of bread, pulverise it until it 
is reduced to an impalpable powder, then apply daily, morning 
and evening, with a soft brash and pure cold water. 

Use. — This will keep the teeth white, and cure diseases 

of the gums. 

A GOOD MEDICATED WINE. 

No. 83 Tuke of powdered colchicum seed, two ounces ; 
of sherry wine, twelve fluid ounces. Put them together iu a 
close glass bottle, and let them stand for fourteen days, giving 
a good shaking every day. Filter through a fine muslin cloth, 
and drink as required. 

INJECTION FOR ASIATIC CHOLERA. 

No. 84. Take of water, one fluid ounce ; tincture of 
prickly ash berries, one fluid drachm ; tincture of opium, twenty 
drops. Mix together. Inject in ordinary quantity until the 
desired effect has been produced* 



182 THE COMPLETE HEBBALIST. 

BLEEDING AT THE NOSE. 
No. 85. Powder of rhatany, (for internal use,) ten 
grains. 

FOR OLD ULCERS. 
No. 86. Take of red chickweed, which is common both 
in America and Europe, the leaves and flowers, and apply in the 
iorin of a poultice, frequently changing them. 

FOR PARALYSIS OF THE BLADDER. 
No. 87. Make from the leaves of the poison oak, a 
tincture with alcohol. 

Dose. — From two to five drops three times a day. Children 
should never use it. 

FOR NERVOUSNESS. 
No. 88. Fluid extract of cinchona, one ounce ; fluid 
extract of valerian, one ounce ; essence of cardamom, two 
drachms. Mix. 

Dose. — One drachm every three hours. This will generally 
save much suffering until a perm ment cure can be procured. 
FOR DECAYED TEETH. 
No. 89. Dissolve, in a well-stopped bottle, a quarter of a 
pound of gum mastic, in a quantity of sulphuric ether barely 
sufficient for the purpose. Saturate, with this solution, a small 
piece of cotton of the size of the cavity in the tooth, and then, 
having cleansed and dried the cavity, gently press the cotton 
into it. This will be found useful where there are no dentists 
at hand. 

TO KILL AND EXPEL TAPEWORMS. 
No. 90. Solid extract of male fern, two scruples ; gam- 
boge, fourteen grains ; scammony, eighteen grains. Mix, and 
divide into twenty pills. 

Dose. — Two pills morning and night. 

PALLIATIVE FOR DROPSY. 
No. 91. Take of the oil of juniper berries, five drops ; 
sweet spirits of nitre, one drachm. Mix. 

Dose. — From two to five drops, three times a day. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 183 

FOR EXTREME WEAKNESS. 
Ko. 92. Fluid extract of rhubarb, two ounces ; fluid 
extract of geutian, half an ounce ; diluted alcohol, two piuts. 
Mix. 

Dose. — From half an ounce to an ounce, morning and night. 
Begiu with half an ounce and note the effects. 
WASH FOR SORE MOUTH. 
No. 93. Take of fluid extract of cranes-bill, two ounces ; 
fluid extract of black cohosh, two ounces ; fluid extract of 
goldenseal, two ounces ; fluid extract of witch hazel, two 
ounces ; water four quarts. Mix. Use as a wash as often as 
may seem to be required. 

FOR DIARRHCEA. 
No. 94. Take of fluid extract of Colombo, two drachms ; 
fluid extract of rhubarb, two drachms ; fluid extract of giuger, 
one drachm ; water, one quart. Mix. 

Dose — One drachm every one or two hours. 

GARGLE IN SCARLET FEVER. 
No. 95. Take of fluid extract of cayenne pepper, two 
ounces ; common salt, two drachms ; boiling vinegar, one quart ; 
boiling water, one quart. Use as required. 
CHALK MIXTURE. 
No. 96 Take of prepared chalk, half an ounce ; sn^ar, 
and powdered gum arabic, each two drachms ; cinnamon water, 
and water, fonr fluid drachms each. Rub all together, until 
thoroughly mixed. 

Dose. — A tablespoonful often repeated. This is valuable for 
acidity of the stomach. 

FOR INTERMITTENT AND REMITTENT FEVERS. 
No. 97. Take of the solid extract of butternut, one and 
a quarter drachms ; solid extract of jalap, three quarters of a 
drachm; castile soap, ten grains. Mix, and divide iuto sixteen 
pills. 

Dose. — From two to five pills, according to the age of the 
patient and the severity of the disease. 



184 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

FOR COOLING THE BLOOD; 

No. 98. Take of cream of tar; ar, two scruples; of water, 
one quart. Mix, and flavor to suit, and drink as a beverage. 
FOE AN AFFECTION OF THE KIDNEYS. 

No. 99. Take the buds of the tree known as the balm of 
gilead, (gathering them at the proper time, and under the 
proper influences,) and with alcohol make a tincture. 
Dose. — From one to two fluid drachms a day. 
FOR FELONS AND TUMORS. 

No. 100. Gather poke root under the proper pi metary 
influences, (see article on " Poke/' in another p irt of this book,) 
and bury it in hot ashes until it is sott 5 then mash it and apply 
as a poultice. 

STOMACH AND BOWELS* 

No. lOl. Place pumpkin seeds in water without bruising 
them, making- an infusion. The infusion may be drank freely. 
It is very efficacious in inflammation of the stomach and kidneys, 
and scalding of the urine. 

FOR BOILS AND CARBUNCLES. 

No. 102. Get the leaves of the "round-leafed pyrola," 
or pear leafed winter green, and of the decoction m ike a poul* 
tice nnd apply to the parts affected. A very good preparation 
for temporary relief. 

FOR MUSCULAR PAINS, NEURALGIA, ETC. 

No. 103. Take of the extract of fox-glove, half an ounce; 
mix it with half a pint of tepid water, and theu stir in as much 
flax-seed meal as will make a poultice of the right th ckness. 
Be sure not to apply this poultice to any part where there is 
much skin off. 

TO CURE BALDNESS. 

No. 104. Take Lie sulphur, one ounce; sugar of lead, 
half an ounce ; sulphate of copper, five grains ; pure water, 
half a pint. Mix :>nd filter* Add seven ounces of rose water, 
and one ounce each of bergamot, cinnamon, jessamine and 
peppermint. Bathe the head in this twice a day, aud give it 
a cold shower bath once or twice a week. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 185 

FOR LOCKED JAW. 
* No. 105. Take of dioscorine, twenty grains ; Scutellaria, 
twenty grains ; quinine, twenty grains. Mix, and divide into 
ten powders, and give one every two hours until all are taken. 
The wound should be thoroughly cauterized, (if the disease be 
caused by a wound) and poultices applied immediately. Au 
emetic and cathartic should also be administered. 

FOR SALT RHEUM. 
No. 106. Make a syrup of butternut leaves and root, and 
take a tablespoonful three times a day. 

FOR CHRONIC ULCERS AND AGUE. 
No. 107. Eat the root of star grass moderately. The 

root is edible. 

FOR GRAVEL. 

No. 108. Make an infusion of wild carrot, and chamomile 
blossoms, take a tablespoonful three times a day. 

FOR FALLING OF THE RECTUM. 

No. 109. Take of tannin, ten grains ; geranin, twenty 

grains ; white wax, one ounce ; glycerin, one ounce. Melt ihe 

wax and mix the glycerin, and add the tannin and geranin 

while it is cooling. Apply four or five times a day. The 

bowels should be kept regular by the use of my " Renovating 

Pills." 

FOR WHOOPING COUGH. 

No, 110. Take of pulverised alum, one ounce ; water, 
one pint. Heat the water until the alum is all dissolved, add 
one pound of refined sugar, and simmer until a syrup is formed, 
then strain and let it cool. 

Dose. — From one to two teaspoonsful a day, as the case may 

require. 

FOR DIABETES. 

(The voiding of sweet urine in large quantities.) 

No. 111. Take equal parts of beth root, black cohosh, 

cranes- bill, wild cherry, and hemlock bark. Pulverise. To a 

tablespoonful of the powder add a pint of boiling water, und 



186 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

let it be drank cool, or cold during the duy. Take the " Ren- 
ovating Pili " to keep the bowels regular. m 

ACUTE ERYSIPELAS, SCARLATINA, ETC. 

No. 112. Take equal parts of cleavers, maiden hair, and 
elder-blows. Macerate in warm water for two or three hours, 
and drink freely when cold. 

Use. — This is an excellent drink in acute erysipelas, scarlatina, 
and other exanthematous diseases in their inflammatory stages. 
FOR HYDROPHOBIA. 

No. 113. Take dried herbs of bears foot, wood betony, 
woodsage, agrimony, box, and rue, of each two ounces, with a 
small piece of nightshade. Cut these small and put them into a 
gallon of rain-water, and boil all together in an iron vessel until 
reduced to a quart. When the liquid has boiled some time, add 
one ounce each of antimony, and filed pewter. Half a pint to 
be taken three mornings, fasting, for an adult, and a smaller 
quantity, in proportion to the age, by younger persons. The 
same quantity to be again taken at the next full of the moon. 
The patient to abstain from any spirituous liquors, and to be 
very careful not to heat the blood by any violent exercise. 
FOR PUTRID FEYER. 

No. 114. Take of decoction of elder blossoms, ten fluid 
ounces ; of pure acetic acid, one ounce ; of extract of cinchona, 
three drachms ; of clarified elderberry jelly, one ounce. Mix. 
Dose. — A teaspoonful every hour. 

FOR DROPSY. 

No. 115. Take of volatile oil of meadow-sweet, twenty 
drops ; of a strong decoction of pepermint, one ounce ; of an 
infusion of hysop leaves, six fluid ounces. Mix, and take a 
spoonful every hour. 

JB©* The above recipes, if made up from herbs and plants 
gathered at the right times and under the proper planetary 
and climatic influences, and not kept too long, will perform, in 
every instauce the duties ascribed to them. If any of my 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 187 

readers address me with reference to any of these recipes, they 
will please give the number of the recipe. The main ouject of 
giving these recipes is to enable the afflicted to procure relief 
uutil they can reach such certain remedies as are embodied in 
my four great specific preparations known as the "Aeaciau 
Balsam," the " Eihereal Ointment," the " Renovating Pill," and 
the " Magic Assimilaut," for which see pages 279, 285, 294, 
and 297. 



THINGS FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 

Strawberry Jam — Gather the scarlet strawberries when 
perfectly ripe ; bruise them well and add the juice of other 
strawberries ; take an equal part of lo if sugar, pound and sift 
it, stir it thoroughly into the fruit; and set on a slow fire. Boil 
it twenty minutes, taking off the scum as it rises, pour it iuto 
glasses or jars, and when cold tie down. 

Apple Jelly. — Pare, core, and cut thirteen good apples into 
small bits ; as they are cut throw them into two quarts of cold 
water ; boil them in this, with the peel of a lemon, till the sub- 
stance is extracted, and nearly half the liquor wasted ; drain 
them through a hair sieve, and to a pint of the liquid, add 
one pound of loaf sugar pounded, the juice of one lemon, and 
the beaten whites of one or two eggs ; put it in a s mce-pan, 
stir it till it boils, take off the scum and let it boil till cle.ir, and 
then pour it into a mould. 

Arrow Root Jelly. — Stir a tablespoonful of arrow root 
powder into half a cupful of cold water, pour in a pint of boiling 
water, let it stand five or ten minutes, and then sweeten it to 
suit. 

Irish Moss Jelly. — Irish moss, half an ounce ; fresh milk, 
one and a half pints. Boil down to a pint. S raiu, and add 
sugar and lemon juice sufficient to give it an agreeable flavor. 

Cream Custard.— Beat and put eight eggs into two quarts 
of cream, sweetened to the taste, with a little nutmeg and some 
cinnamon. 



188 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Berries that may be used advantageously either when fresh 
and ripe, or token properly preserved.— Black and red currants, 
strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, whortleber- 
ries, dewberries, etc. 

Black Currant Preserves— Black currants must always be 
gathered upon a dry day ; then take as many pounds as you 
require, aud to every pound add half a pint of red currant 
juice, and a pound and a half of finely powdered ioaf sui>-ar. 
With scissors clip off the heads and stalks ; put the juice, cur- 
rants, aud sugar in a preserving pan; shake the whole 
frequemly till it boils, carefully remove the fruit from the sides 
of the pan, and take off the scum as it rises ; let it boil ten or 
fifteen minutes. This preserve is a most valuable adjunct of the 
sick-room, especially in cases of lung and throat diseases. 

Grapes.— In all cases of fever, very ripe grapes of any kind 
are a beneficial article of diet, acting as both food and drink, 
and possessing cooling and soothing properties. They are also 
extremely grateful to every palate. 

Pears.— Get pears and parboil them in water ; peel them. 
Clarify your sugar, and boil them until they become red and 
clear ; take the pears out, boil up the syrup, strain it and put 
over the pears. 

Wafers.— One pound of flour, quarter of a pound of butter, 
two eggs beat, one glass of preserved quince juice, and some 
nutmeg. 

Tarts.— Light tarts made of any of the edible berries, such 
as the strawberry, blackberry, or raspberry, are most excellent, 
and the elderberry, if carefully gathered when ripe will make 
a valuable tart for the sick-room. 

Pies.— These should seldom or never be introduced into the 
sick-room, unless made without a top covering. Custard pie is 
about the best for the invalid. 

Toast.— To make a most excellent toast for a reduced or 
convalescent patienr, take biead twenty-four or thirty-six hours 
old, which has been made of a mixture of fine wheat flour and 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 189 



Indian meal, and a pure yeast batter mixed with eggs. Toast 
it until of. a delicate brown, and then, (if the patient be not 
inclined to fever) immerse it in boiled milk and butter. If the 
patient be feverish, spread it lightly with cranberry jam, or 
calves' foot jelly. 

Cakes. — A good cake may be made by fermenting coarse 
flour and baking the cakes upon a griddle, as with buck-wheat 
batter. Eat with honey, or if that cacnot be obtained, with 
cane-sugar syrup. 

Cup Cake.— Two cupsful of milk or cream (cream is the 
besr,) two of sugar, two of wheat flour, one of rice flour and a 
teasp.onful of salt ; beat the articles well, put into cups, and 
bake half an hour. 

Bread Pudding— Take of bread crusts and dry crumbs as 

much as is necessary. Soak in water until soft, and then 

squeeze until dry. To each pint add one quart of milk, four 

eggs, and i tea*cup full of sugar. Bake or boil it according to 

I taste. Either way it is very tasty and very good. 

Decoction of Bran. — New wheat bran, one pint ; water, 
three quarts. Boil down one third, strain off the liquor ana 
j add sugar, honey, or molasses, according to the taste of the 
: patient. 

Tapioca. — Tapioca is a very delightful food for invalids. Make 
j an ordinary pudding of it, and improve the flavor, agreeably to 
; the desire of the patient or convalescent, by adding raisins, 
sugar, prunes, lemon juice, wines, spices, etc. 

Rice.' — In all cases where a light and nice diet for parties 
who have been, or are, afflicted with diarrhea j, or dysentery, is 
required, rice in almost any cooked form is most agreea' le and 
! advantageous. It m iy be given with benefit to dyspeptics, 
unless costiveness accompanies the dyspepsia. To make rice 
pudding take a tea-cup full of rice, and as much sugar, two 
quarts of milk and a teaspoonful of salt. Bake, with a moder. 
ate heat, for two hours. Rice flour, made in a batter, and 



190 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

baked upon a griddle, makes a superb cake, and rice flour 
gruel, seasoned to the taste, is most excellent for the sick-room. 

Panado.-— Put a little water on the fire, with a glass of wine, 
some sugar, and a little grated nutmeg; boil all together a few 
seconds, and add pounded crackers or crumbs of bread ; and 
again boil for a few minntes. 

French Milk Porridge. — Stir some oat-meal and water to- 
gether, let the mixture stand to clear, and pour off the water. 
Then put more water to the meal, stir it well and let it stand 
till the next day. Strain through a fine sieve, and boil the 
water, adding milk while so doing. The proportion of water 
must be small. With toast this is admirable. 

Common Milk Porridge will be found very palatable in ordi- 
nary cases. Everybody knows how to make it. 

Brown Bread Biscuit. — Two quarts of Indian meal, a pint 
and a half of rye, one cup of flour, two teaspoonsful of yeast, 
and a tablespoonful of molasses. As you put the yeast in add 
a little salaratus— a very little. Let the whole rise over night, 
and bake as usual. 

Pumpkin Bread. — Boil a sliced pumpkin in water until it is 
quite thick, then add flour so as to make it dough, and bake as 
usud. 

Bread and Milk. — The bread must not be fresh, nor yet too 
old and stale. Common bread and milk, cool, and judiciously 
prepared with a little nutmeg, (and sugar if the patient is fond 
of sweets) is really a nice thing for the sick-room. 

Buttermilk Pap. — Fresh buttermilk, four parts ; water, one 
part; mix, boil, and thicken with Indian meal. Eat with but- 
ter, sugar, or molasses. 

Coffee Milk. — Put a dessert-spoonful of ground coffee into 
a pint of milk ; boil it a quarter of an hour with a shaving or 
two of isinglass ; let it stand ten minutes, and then pour off. 

Chicken Broth. — Take half a chicken, divested of all fit, 
and break the bones ; add to this half a gallon of water, and 
boil for half an hour. Season with salt. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 19t 

Cranberry Water. — Put a teacupful of cranberries into a 
cup of water and mash them. In the meantime boil two quarts 
of water with one large spoonful of corn or oat meal, and a bit 
of lemon peel ; then add the cranberries, and as much fine sugar 
as will leave a smart flavor of the fruit — also a wine-glassful of 
sherry. Boil the whole gently for a quarter of an hour, then 
strain. 

Toast Water. — Toast slowly a thick piece of bread cut from 
the outside of a loaf, until it is well browned, but not blackened. 
Then turn upon it boiling water of a sufficient quantity, and 
keep it from half an hour to an hour before using. Be sure that 
the liquid is of a rich brown color before you use it. It is a 
most excellent drink in all cases of sickness or couvalesence. 

Barley Water. — Ground barley boiled and sweetened, and 
flavored with lemon, makes a nutritious and refreshing drink for 
both the ill and the healthy. 

Beef Liquid. — When the stomach is very weak, take fresh 
lean beef, cut it into strips, and place the strips into a bottle, 
with a little salt. Place into a kettle of boiling water and let 
it remain one hour. Pour off the liquid and add more water. 
Be<rin with a small quantity. 

Wine Whey. — Heat a pint of new milk until it boils, at 
which moment pour in as much good wine as will curdle and 
clarify it. Boil and set it aside, until the curd subsides. Do 
not stir it, but pour the whey off carefully and add two pints 
of boiling water, with loaf sugar. 

Orange Whey. — Milk, one pint ; the juice of an orange with 
a portion of the peel. Boil the milk, then put the orange to it, 
and let it stand till it coagulates Strain. 

Sippets. — On an extremely hot plate, put two or three slices 
of bread, and pour over tbem some of the juices of boiled beef, 
mutton, or veal. If there be no butter in the dish, sprinkle 
over them a little salt. 

Sago Gruel. — Sago, two tablespoonsful ; water, one pint; 
boil gently until it thickens, frequently stirring. Wine, sugar, 
and nutmeg may be added, if needed. 



192 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Plum Cake. — One pound of pure fresh butter, one pound of 
sugar, twelve eggs, two pounds of raisins, two pounds of cur- 
rants, and as much sifted spice as you please — especially if the 
case is one of nervous or muscular debility. Add a glass of 
wine and an ounce of brandy ; also one pound of citron. The 
butter and sugar should be mixed as for pound cake. The eggs 
should be beaten lightly. Put in the fruit first, stirring it 
in gradually after it has beeu well floured. Now butter sheets 
of clean white paper, and line the inside of your pans. Lay 
in some slices of citron, then a layer of the mixture, then of 
the citron, and so on till the pan is full. Give it a hot and 
steady oven, and bake it from three to six hours, according to 
the thickness of the cake. For invalids, it would be best 
to ice it when thoroughly cold, or put it in a very cool place, 

Drop Cake. — One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, eight 
esrgs (leaving out half the whites,) rose water and nutmeg to 
your taste. 

Sponge Cake. — Four large eggs, two caps of flour, two cups 
(even full) of sugar; beat the two parts of the eggs sepa- 
rate, the white to a froth; then beat them together ; then stir 
in the flour, and without delay put into the oven. 

Superior Indian Cake. — Take two cups of Indian meal, one 
taulespoonful of molasses, two cups of sweet milk, a little salt, 
a handful of flour, and a little salaratus, and you have an Indiau 
cake that will give joy to the heart of any invalid not afflicted 
with skin disease. 

Batter Pudding. — Take one quart of milk, three eggs, one 
tablespooniul of salt, and flour enough to make it batter. Be^t 
the ingredients till free from lumps, boil one hour and a half in 
a buttered bag. 

' Boiled Apple Pudding. — (To be used only by invalids or 
convalescents who are not, or have not been afflicted by diseases 
of the bowels and stomach.) Line a basin with paste, very thin 
and plain, fill it with the apples, and cover it with the paste. 
Tie a cloth over it, and boil it about an hour and a half, or until 




p 
u 





THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 193 

the apples are done soft. Serve up plain or with the simplest 
>auce possible. 

Pudding Sauce. — One pint of sugar, one tablespoonful of 
vinegar, one piece of butter the size of an egg ; boil fifteen 
minutes ; add one tablespoonful of rose water, a little nutme<r; 
boil it with the sugar in nearly a pint of water, and a large 
tablespoonful of flour. 

Chicken Pie. — Cut up your chicken and parboil it. Sea- 
son it in the pot. Take up the meat, put in a fLur thickening, 
and srald the gravy ; make the crust light ; put in a piece of 
butter the size of an egg. Take a large tin pau, line it with the 
crust, which should be plain and delicate ; put in your meat 
and pour in your gravy from the pot ; make it nearly full, and 
bake in a moderate heat two hours, or two hours and a half. 

Eoast Chicken. — Pick, clean, singe, and wash. Tben 
truss, and dredge with flour. Then put down to roast and 
baste with butter. When the steam draws towards the fire 
it is done. Make a rich gravy from the drippings, add but- 
ter, a little thickening, and the inwards nicely chopped after 
they have been boiled soft. 

Codfish Boiled and in Steaks. — For all persons afflicted 
with any pulmonary affection, or of a scrofulous habit, no 
diet is so grateful or serviceable as fresh codfish. Boiled in 
the ordinary manner ; (they should be put into cold water, not 
in boiling water) and served up with a common drawn butter 
dressing, they are far more invigorating than meats. The 
steaks, fried in the most. simple style, and eaten warm or cold, 
are a luxury to the invalid. I look upon the fresh cod, cooked 
in the plainest manner, as one of the very nicest things Provi- 
dence has provided for the weak and ailing. Its medicinal 
virtues reside in the iodine it contains in the natural form. 

Fish Chowder. — Lay some slices of good fat pork in the 
bottom of your pot, cut a fresh cod into thin slices, and lay the 
latter on top of the pork, then a layer of biscuit, and alter- 
nately the other materials, until you have used them all, then 

9 



194 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

put in your water. Let it simmer until the fish is done, and 
then season to your liking. Add a coffee-cup of good rich milk 
or pure cream. This is delicious and very invigorating, but 
parties with very weak stomachs should avoid the pork part of 
the chowder. 

Oyster Soup. — This should never be admitted to the sick- 
room unless made by a skillful and experienced nurse. For 
convalescents, the best way to make it is to boil the liquor with 
chopped celery and a very little butter. When it boils up add 
half as much milk as there is liquor, and pour it in a boiliug 
condition over the oysters. 

Soups for the convalescent. — To extract the strength from 
meat, long and slow boiling is necessary; but care must be 
taken that the pot is nev^r off the boil. All soups should be 
made the day before they are used, and they should then be 
strained into earthen pans. When soup has jellied in the pan, 
it should not be removed into another. When in dauger of 
not keeping it should be boiled up. 

Calf's Brains. — Tie in a bag, after they have been properly 
cleaned, and boil one hour. Season to suit the taste. 

Sick-room Custards. — Mix with the well-beaten yolks of four 
eggs, a pint of new milk, half an ounce of dissolved isinglass ; 
sweeten with loaf sugar and stir over a slow fire until it thick- 
ens. Pour it into a basiryand stir it until a little cooled, then 
pour it in cups out of which it may be turned when cold. 
Spice it according to the circumstances of the case. 

Eggs.— In cases of extreme debility eggs are most excellent. 
They should never be boiled hard. The best way to prepare 
them is to beat them ell with milk and sugar. Where it will 
be appropriate to the case add some fine pale sherry wine. 

Tea Biscuit. — Take one pint of sour milk, one teaspoonful 
of saiaratus, flour enough to knead up, a small piece of lard or 
butter, (leave out the lard if possible,) a little Salt ; roll it out 
and cut and bake into small, delicious biscuits. These must 
not be eaten warm. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 195 

Mtlk Biscuit. — Take four pounds of flour, two pounds of 
lard and butter rolled well ; mix it with milk — add a little 
salt. 

Peas. — Take young and fresh-shelled green pens, wash them 
clean, put them into fresh water just enough to cover them, and 
boil them till they take up nearly all the water. Season with 
salt, pepper, and butter. This dish, if prep tred according to 
directions, and eaten warm, will not harm any invalid — not even 
one suffering from diarrhoea. 



FOOD AND DRINKS. 



Man is on omniverous creature, partaking of the nature both 
of the Carnivorous and Herbaceous animal. Hence, it is 
reasonable to suppose, that man should subsist ou a mixed 
diet, consisting both of animal and vegetable substances. To 
settle this matter we must appeal to man's organization. His 
structure will tell us something we need not mistake. All 
the works of the Creator show design. Every thing he has 
m »de has a use, and is so contrived as to be adapted to that 
use. Lions, tigers, and other animals, for example, which 
feed on flesh alone, have a short second stomach — it being only 
about three times the length of an animal's body. Animals 
which eat no flesh — as that of a sheep— have very long 
second stomachs; while the duodenum, or second stomach, 
of the human being, is of a medium capacity, which fact, in 
connection with the peculiar formation of his teeth and his 
erect, or upright position, prove conclusively that man was des- 
tined to adapt himself to any clime, and to p art >ke of any kind 
of food, animal or vegetable, as may be naturilly supplied for 
his subsistence by the hand of Providence. For instance, the 
inhabitants of the Polar regions subsist princip illy on animal 
substances, and that, too, of the most oleagineous or fatty 
sorts. 

Those tribes of men, laborers, hunters, etc., living in cold 



196 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

climites, who subsist almost wholly on flesh, fish, or fowl, devour 
on an average about seven pounds per diem. In fact, the quan- 
tity of animal food consumed by some human beings, who are 
flesh-eaters in practice, seems almost incredible. Captain Parry 
relates the ease of an Esquimaux lad, who at a meal, which 
lasted twenty hours, consumed four pounds of raw, as well as 
four pounds of broiled sea-horse flesh, one and a half pints of 
gravy, besides one and three quarter pounds of bread, three 
glasses of raw spirits, one tumbler of strong grog, and nine 
pints of water. Captain Cochrane states in a " Narrative of 
travels through Siberian Tartary" that he has repeatedly seen 
a Yakut or Largouse eat forty pouuds of meat in a day ; and 
it is stated that the men in the Hudson's Bay Company are 
allowed a ration of seven or eight pounds of ordinary flesh meat 
per diem. 

Charles Francis Hall, in his work called "Artie Researches 
and Life among the Esquimaux" relates his strange experi- 
ences among the tribes of the country, with whom he became, 
as it were, naturalized. Speaking of the kinds of food they 
used, and the enormous quantity consumed, Captain Hall 
remarks: "The skin of the Mysticetus (Greenland whale) is 
a great treat to the Esquimaux, who eat it raw. The " black 
skin" is three-fouths of an inch thick, and looks like india-rubber. 
It is good eating in a raw state even for a white man, as I 
know from experience; but when boiled and soused in vinegar 
it is most excellent." The Captain afterwards saw the natives 
cutting up the krang (meat) of the whale, into suoh huge slices 
as their wives could carry ; and as they worked they kept on 
eating, until boat-load after boat-load was sent over the ice to 
be deposited in the villages of the vicinity. All day long were 
they eating, which led the Captain to exclaim : M Whitt enor- 
mous s:omachs these Esquimaux have 1" He came to the 
conclusion, however, that the Esquimaux practice of eating 
their food raw, is a good one — at least, for the better preserva- 
tion of their health. To oue educated otherwise, as we civilized 
whites are, the Esquimaux custom of feeding on uncooked meats 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 197 

is highly repulsive ; but eating meats raw or cooked is entirely 
a mutter of education. " God has made of one blood all nations 
of men to dwell on the whole face of the earth, and has deter- 
mined the limes before appointed, and the bounds of their 
habitations." Take the Esquimaux away from the arctic regions 
and they would soon disappear from the face of the earth. 

The Esquimaux are a hardy and happy people ; are compar- 
atively free fom diseases, and are never known to die of 
scrofula or consumption, as one of the consequences of eating 
so enormously of oleaginous o<* greasy auim.il substances. 

On the other hand, in contrast to the gormandizing propen- 
sities of the Equimaux, there are many examples of people 
living in cold ch mites, subsisting on coarse bread, not exceeding 
I the average amount of one pound of wheat, rye, or corn daily ; 
1 but such persons, unless exceedingly active in their habits, 
; seldom escape from the penalties of scrofula and consumption, 
for the simple reason that they soon fail to supply themselves 
with the meats or fatty animal substances necessary for the 
heat and life of the body. The Canadian teamsters live almost 
exclusively upon bread and fat, which, in a temperate climate 
would produce nausea and skiu eruptions. 

In warm climates, as in China, Hindoostan, Africa, and the 
tropics, the food of the haiives is principally composed of vege- 
tables and fruits — rice being the general diet, with only animil 
or other food enough to amoi nt to a condiment or seasoning. 
Though the amount of food consumed by some of the nations is 
very small, and their habits very temperate, we do not find that 
even they are any the less liable to mmy of the diseases which 
afflict those who eat largely of a mixed diet. It is reasonable 
to suppose, however that less food and lighter clothing are 
required in warm or hot climates than those of the temperate 
and frigid. 

The negroes on the plantations of Mississippi and Alabama, 
grow sleek aud live to an advanced age, by subsisiing largely 
on fat pork and hominy, corn bread, sweet potatoes, rice, etc 
la the pampas of Brazil and Buenos Ay res, where immense 



198 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

herds of wild cattle are found, the hunters catch these bo vines, 
strip them of their hides and horns, and, if hungry, will cut out 
a huge chunk of beef, half roast it, and eat it without salt or 
bread. In some parts of Brazil, the natives feed on a flour 
made from the roots of a certain plant or tree, moistening the 
same wish the juice of the orange or lemon. Others find sup- 
port in the yam, the banana or plantain, etc., while they are 
hugely addicted to drinking a species of whiskey called aqua- 
dente. 

In Asia and Africa many of the natives derive their staple 
nutrition from gum acacia, and among us many an invalid has 
derived healthy nourishment from preparations containing gum 
acacia, when his stomach would neither bear nor digest any other 
article in the shape of food. In Peru the Indians will subsist 
for a month at a time by chewing a plant called erythoxylin 
coca, and in the meantime perform journeys of hundreds of 
miles. The Hindoos live principally on rice, and are considered 
a long lived and a very docile people. On the other hand, 
many of the Indian tribes of North America who live on roots, 
barks, berries, etc., are very savage and warlike in their habiis. 
the Chinese drink strong tea, and the Turks coffee equally as 
strong, without apparent detriment to their general health. 
The laboring Scotch thrive partially on oatmeal po ridge, with- 
out using a particle of meat. The Irish want nothing better 
than plenty of potatoes, cabbage, and buttermilk. The En- 
glish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other civilized 
people of Europe, live upon mixed diet, though each have their 
peculiar likes and dislikes in the shape of dishes, and the aver- 
age health of each nation is about the same. So in America, 
they eat every thing and any thing, without particular injury to 
the constitution, except when eaiiug too fast and too much at 
a time, which is a proverbial national error. 

People are liable to eat what they have been taught or edu- 
cated to eat, without stopping to inquire concerning any physi- 
ological laws on the subject. Scrofula is the most prevalent 
of all diseases, — this fact being justly attributed not to pork or 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 199 

food of any kind, but to the manner in which the people are 
lodged, living in small or unvenlilated apartments, crowded 
together and breathing foul air and the pestiferous tffluvias 
of their own bodies. 

There can be uo doubt that many of the maladies incident to 
the human race, are produced through the agency of improper 
food, over-feeding, etc., on the internal organs ; yet it can be 
readily shown that a far greater amount oi miladies are 
induced through the medium of atmospheric impressions and 
vicissitudes on the external surface of the body. More diseases 
arise from breathing foul air, or from lack of the natural atmos- 
pheric air, than from the worst or poorest kind of food. 
Disease, therefore, is not so much a result of the kind of food 
we eat, as it is in the quantity and quality. What may be 
excellent for one man, may be very injurious for another; 
custom, habits, idiosyneracies, temperaments, etc., having a 
great deal to do in the digestion of food, and converting it into 
wholesome or nutritious blood, capable of supplying all the 
tissues of the body with their natural needs or stimuli. Very 
few people seem to know what their stomachs were intended 
for, or even know where they are situated. All sorts of dele- 
terious substances are crammed iuto the stomach by thousands 
of people. 

This ignorance of the uses of the stomach, or rather abuse 
of the functions, is sometimes the source of much suffering and 
disease. Besides the gastric tubes which supply (he stomach 
with the gastric juice, which is necessary to dissolve the food 
before it can be converted into blood, it is extensively covered 
with a net work of nerves and blood-vessels, rendering the 
stomach very sensitive and very liable to inflammation. This 
inflammation sometimes becomes very active, producing vom- 
iting, pain, fever, etc., all caused by imprudence in diet. It is 
a warning. If the warning be not heeded, this inflammation 
becomes chronic ; the nerves lose tneir sensibility ; the stomach 
becomes inactive, and, that most distressing of all diseases, 
dyspepsia, (and otten epilepsy or fits) takes up its abode as a 



200 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

permanent guest. Most frequently it conies on more slowly 
and without apparent warning. 

The food we eat has to be properly digested. Peoplenre 
apt to suppose that digestion is performed in the stomach only. 
This is a mistake. The stomach performs the greater part of 
the work, but it is greatly assisted by other organs besides. 
. igestion really begins in the mouth. Besides the teeth, which 
are the true organs of digesiion, there are situated in the 
cavity of the month three small bodies called salivary glands, 
which pour out a fluid called saliva, (or spittle,) which is just 
ms necessary to the proper digestion of food as the gastric juice 
itself. The more thoroughly the food is mixed with saliva, the 
more perfect will be digestion. This should teach us to eat 
slowly and to chew so well that every mouthful of food may 
contain a proper amount of it. It should also teach us that 
this saliva is too valuable a substance to be contaminated with 
tobacco juice, or wasted in expectoration from smoking, espe- 
cially where the temperament is nervous. Saliva is constantly 
being poured into the cavity of the mouth, whether we are 
asleep or awake. As a general thin^ in a healthy person, about 
five wine-glasses full of saliva are secreted in a day. 

We eat that the body may be supported with blood, for our 
food before it can become a part of the body, must first be 
converted into blood. A full grown, healthy working-man 
consumes, in one year, about twelve hundred pounds of victuals 
and drink — that is about eight times his own weight ; yet if he 
should weigh himself at the end of the year he would find that 
he weighs very little more or less than be did at the beginning. 
Now what has become of the twelve hundred pounds he has 
eaten ? It has been wasted away. With every motion, every 
breath, every operation of the mind, the body has been wasted, 
and food has been required to support the waste. 

The one great cause of the wasting of the body, and of the 
constant demand for food is action. If the muscles could be 
kept from moving, our lungs from breathing, and our minds 
from thinking, then we might not require food, for there would 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 201 

bo no waste. This condition of things, of course, could never 
exist, without death speedily following. 

Exercising violently excites hunger, since it makes us bre ithe 
faster, and therefore anises us to inhale more air. A man of 
sedentary habits does not require so much food as a laboring 
man, because he does not waste away as fast. Much of the 
wasted material of the body is carried off by the lungs, in the 
form of carbonic acid. The skin too does its share of the work. 
It not only assists in breathing, but it also curries out of the 
system a large proportion of its dead particles. 

Children require more food in proportion ihan adults, because 
they are g:owiug, and therefore, so to speak, need more to build 
up their bodies. Alter we have attained our growth, we neither 
gain nor lose our weight, provided we are in health, for we con- 
sume as much food as the body wastes. This is called a state 
of equilibrium. As old age comes on, the body begins to 
decline in weight, and then we waste more than we consume. 

Food may be distinguished into two kinds, viz— nitrogenized, 
and non-nitrogen zed. The first class is called the plastic 
elements of nutrition, and is designed solely to make blood, and 
to form the substa ce of the tissues in the general structure of 
man ; while the non-nitrogenized kind is necessary to keep up 
the animal heat, by yielding hydrogen and c.rbon to be exhib- 
ited in the lungs. The elements of human nutrition and 
recuperation, are vegetable fibrine, albumen, caseine, and animal 
flesh and blood ; while the elements of respiration are fat, 
starch, gum, cane sugar, grape sugar, sugar of milk, wb e, beer 
and spirits. The elemeutary principles, or proximate^ elements 
of food consist in water, gum, sugar, starch, lignin, jelly, fat, 
fibriue, albumen, caseine, gluten, gelatine, acids, salts, alcohol, 
etc. Ail these elements are found in sufficient abundance in 
either the vegetable or animal kingdoms, and are to be used 
according to the natural wants of man, or the supply of the 
waste. °No preeise rules, therefore, can be laid down to suit 
every particular state of either disease or health. Every one 
accordingly should eat and drink only those things which 
° 9* 



202 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

he may find by experience, habits, or peculiarities to best 
agree with his condition, and reject all substances which he 
may find injurious to his health and general well-being* It is 
the provocative variety, or the over stimulation of the palate 
that does the greater mischief to health. Tne plainer the food, 
and the fewer the dishes, the greater will be the immunity from 
disease. Whether the diet be vegetable or animal substances, 
the result will be the same, in relative proportion to the nutri- 
ment yielded. Fish, for scrofulous and consumptive persons, is 
a most excellent diet, containing a principle called iodine. 

Meats contain the most nitrogen, the nitrogenous portions of 
our food mike flesh, and go to supply the wear and tear, and 
wastes of the body; these are ultimately passed from the system 
in the urine. If more nittogenous food is eaten than is needed 
to supply t aese wastes, nature converts it more rapidly iuto 
living tissues, which are, with corresponding rapidity, broken 
down and converted into urine. This is when the food is diges- 
ted ; but wien so much is eaten that it cannot be digested, 
nature takes alarm, as it were, and endeavors to remedy the 
trouble in one of three ways. The stomach rebels and casts it 
off by vomiting , it is worked out of the system by attacks of 
diarrhoea ; or the human creature is made uncomfortable gener- 
ally, and is restless both by day and by night j as a further 
punishment, his appetite is more or less destroyed for several 
meals afterwards. Little or no nitrogen is poured off with the 
perspiration, breathing, or fasces. 

Whatever diet we use, whether animal or vegetable, the 
secret of its utility lies not only in the quantity and quality, 
but in the manner in which either kind is cooked, when so 
prepared for food. Much ignorance prevails everywhere in 
this matter of cooking the substances that are requisite for the 
sustenance of our bodies. Let any person, unable to eat broccoli 
or greens cooked in a quart of water, try the effect of having 
them cooked in a gallon of water ; or of having the quart \)f 
water changed three or four times during the process of cooking, 
and he will soon discover the difference. If good potatoes are 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 203 

* watery," it is because they are ill-cooked. Fried dishes, rich 
gravies, and pastry, should be avoided, because of their teudency 
to develope fatty acids ia the stomach. 

We may reasonably suppose that the physiology of digestion 
is yet too imperfectly understood to enable us to lay down any 
precise laws as to what to eat, drink, and avoid. With a little 
vigilance, however, each person can ascertain for himself what 
foods do and do not agree with him. As before intimated, the 
peculiarities in this respect are remarkable. Some cannot 
endure fat ; others cannot get along without it. Some cannot 
touch mutton ; others are made ill by eggs. Let each find out 
his own antipathy. Suppose the case of a healthy man — so 
healthy that he cannot be healthier. We will say the quantity 
of blood in his body is thirty pounds, and that he loses one 
pound of this in every twenty-four hours. Is it not plain enough 
that he must eat as much food in the same time as will supply 
the waste of blood he has lost ? But if he should eat as much 
as will furnish a pound and a half of blood, he will have half a 
pound of blood too much in his system. Should he go on 
adding an extra half pound of blood daily more than is required 
to supply the tissues, what then will be the consequences ? 
Bursting of the blood vessels. But good Dame Nature has 
measurably guarded against any such plethoric catastrophe ; 
for, after having supplied the waste of the body, the undue 
quantity of blood is converted into fat or adipose matter, thus 
restoring the blood's volume to a due standard. But this 
quasi fat is of no use to the body. It does not give it strength; 
on the contrary, it is an incumbrance to the machinery, and, in 
more ways than one, is an evil. He, therefore, who eats top 
much, even though he digests or assimilates what he eats, and 
should be fortunate enough to escape apoplexy, or some other 
disease, does not add a single particle to his strength. He only 
accumulates fat, and incurs the evils thereunto appertaining — 
one among many of which I will mention — I mean the accumu- 
lation of fat about the heart, and interfering to a most dangerous 
degree, with the heart's action. A man's strength resides in 



204 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

his arterial blood — in his muscles, and bones, and tendons, and 
ligatures, in his brawn and sinew ; and his decree of strength 
depends upon the vigor, size, and substance of these ; and if he 
were to eat without ceasing, he could not add to their size 
and substance one atom, nor alter their original healthy dimen- 
sions. Therefore it is a most mischievous fallacy to suppose 
that the more a man eats the stronger he grows. 

The quantity of food taken daily should just be sufficient to 
restore to the blood what the blood has lost in restoring the 
waste of the body, and that should always be proportioned to 
the degree of bodily exenion undergone. But how are we to 
know the exact amount of the waste that is daily going on in 
our system in order to apportion the quantity of food thereto ? 
Nature tells us not only when, but how much we ought to eat 
and drink. 

For instance, when you are excessively thirsty, and when 
you are in the act of quenching your thirst with a draught of 
cold water, you know when you have drank enough by the 
cessation of thirst ; but there is another token wbicli not only 
informs you when you have drank enough, but which also pre- 
vents you from drinking more, that is if you drink water only. 
While you are in the act of drinking, and before your thirst has 
been allayed, how rich, how sweet, how delicious is the draught, 
though it be but water ! But no sooner has your thirst been 
quenched, than behold in an instant all its deliciousness has 
vanished! It is now distasteful to the palate. To him, then, 
who requires drink, water is delicious ; for him who does not 
require drink, water not only has no relish, but impresses the 
palate disagreeably. To a man laboring under the very last 
degree of thirst, even foul ditch water would be a delicious 
draught ; but his thirst having beeti quenched, he would turn 
from it with disgust. In tnis instance of water-drinking then, 
it is clear that the relish depends, not on any flavor residing in 
the water, but on some certain condition of the body. It is 
absurd to say that you cannot drink water because you do not 
like it, for this only proves that you do not want it ; since the 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 205 

relish with which you enjoy drink depends upon the fact of your 
requiring drink, and not at all upou the nature of the drink 
itself. 

Now apply this to eating instead of drinking. Place before 
a hungry workman stale bread and fat pork, flanked by a jug 
of cold water. While his hunger remains unappeased, he will 
eat and drink with an eager relish ; but when his hunger has 
been appeased, the bread and meat and water have lost what 
he supposed to be their delicious flavor. 

If we ate only simple and natural food, plainly cooked, there 
would be no danger of eating too much, — the loss of relish and 
the feeling of disgust, consequent upon satisfied hunger, would 
make it impossible. Indeed, this sense of satiety is as much 
and as truly a natural token intended to warn us that we have 
eaten enough, as the sense of hunger is a token that we require 
food. 

As hunger instructs us when to eat, so disrelish teaches us 
when we should desist. It would seem that the very ne plus- 
ultra of the cook's art is to destroy the sensation of disrelish, 
which* is almost as necessary to our health as hunger itself. 
Thus it appears the object of modern cookery is to make the 
stomach bear a large quantity of food without nausea — to cram 
into the stomach as much as it can possibly hold, without being 
sick. 

The rule which should regulate the quantity of food to be 
used, is found in that sensation of disrelish which invariably 
succeeds to satisfied appetites. If you be content to live 
plainly and temperately, you will never eat too much, but yon 
will always eat enough ; but if you would rather incur the 
penalty of disease then forego the. pie sure of dining daintily, 
all I can say is, you are welcome to do so — but do not plead 
ignorance — blame only yourself. 

I have stated already that certain people have been known 
to eat from seven to forty pounds of meat or food in a single 
day. On the other hand, persons have lived on twelve ounces 
of food a day, and were actually exempt from disease. Dr. 



206 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

Franklin, in his younger days, confined himself solely to ten 
pounds of bread a week, drinking water only in the meautitriei 
Ilev. John Wesley lived to a great age on sixteen ounces a 
day, although be led a very active life as a preacher of the 
gospel ; and a celebrated Italian nobleman, who led a dissipa- 
ted life till near fifty years of age, suddenly reformed his habits, 
and lived on twelve ounces a day with a single glass of wine, 
until he had reached the hundreth year of his age. Was the 
wine one of the means by which he prolonged his life ? It no 
doubt served to cheer his spirits. And this leads me to con- 
sider somewhat the nature of stimulants. By stimulants, I mean 
ardent spirits, wines, and strong ales. Are tbey necessary as 
articles of diet ? They are not always, but nave their uses. 
They are pernicious to the general organism, if too freely 
indulged in. Liquids which contain or make solids, are 
better than wines, etc., yet both have their uses. Milk, 
the moment it reaches the stomach, is converted into curds 
and whey. The whey passes off by the kidneys — the solid 
curd nourishes the body. Now, if we evaporate a glass 
of wine on a shallow plate, whatever solid matter it contains 
will be left dry upon the plate, and this will be found to 
amount to about as much as may be laid on the extreme point 
of a penknife blade ; and a portion, by no means all — but a 
portion of this solid matter I will readily concede is capable 
of nourishing the body — and this portion is only equal to one* 
third of the flour contained in a single grain of wheat ! If we 
want nourishment merely, why not eat a grain of wheat instead 
of drinking a glass of wine? Yet, wine has its uses as uft 
exhilarant to the mind and body. 

Once placed beyond the reach of the seductions of the 
palate, the simple rule of drink what you want aud as much 
as you want, will of itself suggest the needful limitation. 
Physiology tells us plainly enough, not only why liquids ate 
necessary, but how all superfluous quantities are rapidly got 
rid of. 

An interdict has been placed against hot drinks, which. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST- 207 

if directed against tea and coffee so hot as to scald the mucous 
membrane, is rational enough, but is simply absurd when 
directed against hot in favor of cold drinks ; the aroma of tea 
and coffee is produced by heat, consequently the pleasant, siim- 
ulting effect, is considerably diminished when they are allowed 
to get cold. 

Great diversity prevails as to the kinds of drinks which 
should be used. Some interdict tea, others only green tea 5 
some will not hear of coffee ; others allow mild beer, but protest 
against the bitter. Whoever very closely examines the 
evidence will probably admit that the excessive variations in 
the conclusions prove that no unexceptionable evidence has 
yet been offered. By this, I mean that the evil effects severally 
attributed to the various liquids, were no direct consequences 
of the action of such liquids, but w T ere due to some other con- 
dition. We often lay the blame of a restless night on the tea 
or coffee, which would have been quite inoffensive taken after 
a simpler dinner, or at another hour. 

When a man uniformly finds a cup of tea produce discom- 
fort, no matter what his dinner may have been, nor. at what 
hour be drinks it, he is justified in the inference that tea 
disagrees with him; if he finds that the same effect follow 
whether he take miik or sugar with his tea, then he has a strong 
case against the tea itself, and his experience is evidence as 
far as it goes. But we should require a great deal of evidence 
as precise as this, before impugning the wide and massive 
indnctiou in favor of tea, which is drawn from the practice of 
millions. Had tea in itself been injurious, had it been other 
than positively beneficial, the discovery would long ago have 
been made on a grand scale* 

The same may be said of coffee. Both tea and coffee 
may be hurtful when taken at improper times, or by bilious 
persons ; and a little vigilance will enable each person to decide 
lor himself when he can, and when he cannot, take them with 
benefit. 

I may briefly state my opinion that the great objection 



208 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

against wines is its pleasantness, which is apt to lure tis into 
drinking more than is needful. Wine is quite unnecessary for 
robust men living under healthy conditions ; but to ihern it is 
also, when moderately taken, quite hamless. For many deli- 
cate men and women, living under certain unhealthy conditions, 
it is often indispensable. The physician must decide in all such 
cases. 

Many think they cannot do without something to drink at 
regular meals. Cold milk at meals has the disadvantage, 
if used freely, of engendering constipation, biliousness, and the 
long train of minor symptoms which inevitably fallow these 
conditions. 

Warm drinks are preferable in moderate quantities. Field 
hands on cotton and sugar plantations find a wholesome drink 
in a mixture of molasses, ginger, aud water. This is a safe 
drink for harvesters, as are many other temperate, household 
preparations. A recipe for many of these will be found in the 
proper department of this work. 

Whatever we eat or whatever we drink, let it be only 
enough barely to appease the instincts of hunger and thirst. 
If we rigidly do this, we shall seldom or never be jifHieted with 
dyspepsia, liver 'complaints, heart diseases, and the thousand 
ills to which flesh is heir, but will continue to enjoy unceasing 
rubicund health and vigorous old age. 



CLOTHING. 



Clothing must be adapted to the climate in which a pprson 
lives. Warm or heavy clothing is rendered imperative in a 
northern climate, while the lightest and thinnest can only be 
tolerated in the torrid zones. It is, however, a physiolo^icil 
fact that the more the whole sur ace of the body is exposed to 
the external air, within certain limits, the more vigorous is its 
functional action performed, and the better is it enabled to 
preserve its own proper temperature, as well as to resist all 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 209 

unwholesome impressions from vicissitudes of weather, or the 
extremes of heat and cold. It should always be as light and 
loose as possible without I odily discomfort. 

The substances principally employed for clothing, are linen, 
cotton, silk, wool, hair or down. Woolens or flannels being 
bad conductors of heat, afford the greatest immediate protec- 
tion fiom cold ; and for the same reason are le.^s debilitating 
to the cutaneous function than is generally supposed. The 
most healthy clothing lor a cold climate, especially the year 
round, is undoubtedly that made of wool. If worn next to the 
skin ly all classes in summer and winter, an incalculable 
amount of coughs, colds, diarrhoeas, dysenteries, and fevers, 
w r ould be prevented, as also mauy sudden and premature 
deaths from croup, diptheria, and inflammations of the lungs 
and bladder. Of course, the clothing should be regulated in 
amount according to the degree of the heat of the weather at 
the time prevailing. In a very hot day, for instance, a single 
garment might be sufficient, but on a colder day an additional 
garment should be added, and in this way keep the equilibrium 
of the temperature of the body uniform as possible day by day, 
the year round. Winter maladies would be prevented by the 
ability of a woolen garment to keep the natural heat above the 
body, instead of conveying it away as fast as generated, as is 
done by linen, flaxen, cotton and silken garments. Indeed, 
the laboring classes, or those compelled to toil in the sun, 
would enjoy better health by wearing light woolen clothing, 
than by wearing linen or cotton fabrics. Among the Irish 
emigrants and others who arrive in the United Sates, during 
the summer season, we find m my clothed entirely in woolen 
garments, frequently wearing heavy cloaks or coats, and ac- 
tually feeling less discomfort from the heat than those of our 
native born citizens, who are in the habit of wearing linen or 
cotton next to their skin, and similar fabrics over these for outer 
clothing. It is more healthful to wear woolen next to the 
skin, especially in summer, for the reason that woolen textures 
absorb the moisture of perspiration so rapidly as to keep the 



210 THE COMPLETE HEUBALIST, 

skin measurably dry all the time. It is curious to notice that 
the water is conveyed by a woolen garment from the surface 
of the body to the outer side of the garment, where the micro- 
scope shows it condensed in millions of pearly drops ; while it 
is in the experience of all observant people, that if a linen shirt 
becomes damp by perspiration, it remains cold and clammy for 
a long time afterwards, and, unless removed at once, will cer- 
tainly cause some bodily ailment, as palsy, rheumatism, etc. 
To sit down, or remain inactive with a linen or cotton shirt 
wet with perspiration, will speedily cause a chill to the whole 
body, leading not unfrequently to some sudden and fatal dis- 
ease. In the night-sweats of consumption, especially, or of any 
debilitated condition of the system, a woolen or flannel night- 
dress, (light for warm weather,) is immeasurably more com- 
fortable than cotton or linen, because it prevents that sepulchral 
dampness and chilliness of feeling which are otherwise inevitable. 
The British government make it imperative that every sailor in 
the navy shall wear flannel shirts in the hottest climates, a rule 
that should be adopted by all persons every where exposed to 
variable weather, to extreme heats and colds, merely regulating 
the amount of woolen garments worn to suit the variable tem- 
peratures of climates and seasons. In saying all this, however, 
we must remember that comfort is very much a matrer of habit; 
and, therefore, we should make due discrimation between the 
natural sensation of health and the morbid sensitiveness pro- 
duced by false customs. For instance, some keep their whole 
bodies constantly covered by many layers of woolen garments, 
and yet go into a shivering fit at every unusual breath of cold 
air. The reason is they never adapt their habiliments gradually 
to the degree of the heat or cold of the season. If it be deemed 
advisable to wear woolen clothing all the year round, whether 
summer or winter, it does not follow that we are to wear more 
than one or two extra folds of clothing in addition to the under 
garments. The true rule is not to cover all parts of the body 
equally with the same amount of clothing. The fleshy parts 
require the least clothing, and the limbs and feet, or less mus- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 211 

cular parts, the most. Yet we often weir, in addition to under 
clothing, a thick vest, coat, and overcoat; and to these will 
odd heavy scarfs of far or wool to the neck, etc., while the 
legs and feet are seldom clad in more than a single additional 
garment to the drawers and stockings. These parts require 
more clothing, especially in the winter season, than any other 
parts of the body. Furs are worn in the United States more 
for ornament than benefit. They are the warmest clothing ma- 
terials known ; yet, are not adapted for general wear, inasmuch 
as they are apt to overheat the body, and thus render it keenly 
susceptible to colds and other afflictions. By consequence, fur 
neck cloths, caps, etc., are very pernicious ior the head and 
throat, inducing catarrhs, quinsy sore throat, and similar 
afflictions. On the contrary, a light woolen waistcoat worn 
constantly over the breast, summer and winter, would guard 
against these and other evils, and insure vigorous strength to 
the lungs or respiratory app.ratus, and thus should not be dis- 
pensed with even in dog-days. The simple rule is to keep the 
head cool and the feet warm at all seasons of the year. Cheap 
and pretty silks, of which there are many varieties, are mate- 
rials which are admirable for ladies' evening, dinner, or walking 
dresses, and cost less in the eud than other fabrics. 

While I contend that woolen or flannel clothing is the most 
suitable for the colder or even the more temperate climates, 
it is not for me to object to the use of linen or cotton clothing 
for those living in the torrid or tropical climes. Indeed, cotton 
and linen would seem best adapted to such climes. In the 
north, many persons cannot wear flannel next to the skin, on 
account of inducing some peculiar cutaneous affection ; while 
others prefer such fabrics from choice, although exposed to all 
vicissitudes, never experiencing any evil effects from such a 
course. Such persons usually lead an active, out-door life, or 
are accustomed to exposing their bodies frequently, especially 
their chests, to atmospheric influences. 

Iu a strictly hygienic regulation of dress, however, the color 
of the clothing is not to be disregarded. White color reflects 



212 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

the rays of the sun ; black absorbs them. Light colored cloth- 
ing is therefore more comfortable and sanitary in warm weather 
than dark colored, because the former repels the heat, while 
it is readily received and retained by the latter. The heat- 
reflecting or heat-retaining property of different fabrics varies 
exactly with their lighter or darker shades of color. This 
difference, however, is much greater in the luminous rays of 
light than in the non-luminous. When, therefore, we are not 
exposed to the sun, the subject of color is of very little impor- 
tance. The absorbing power of dark surfaces renders the skins 
of dark colored animals, as well as the darker persons or races 
of the human family, less liable to be scorched or blistered by 
the direct rays of the sun than are those of a lighter color. 

As to the cut or fashion of garments, that is a matter to be 
decided by the taste or habits of the wearer. Fashion, how- 
ever, is very arbitrary, and seldom consults hygiene in matters 
of dress. Of late years she has really muc'i improved, as 
to the regulation of attire with regard to both health and ele- 
gance. The hooped skirt, which, at the outset of its career 
was so mercilessly ridiculed, has proved to be a great blessing 
to the ladies, as it enables them to dispense with a heavy drag 
of solid skirts, and gives their lower limbs free and easy play 
and motion. The hats or head-coverings, now worn by both 
sexes, are, in a sanitary point of view, far superior to those 
worn by our immediate ancestors, being very light, and afford- 
ing free ventilation, which is indispensable for the avoidance 
of headaches, rushing of blood to the head, and many other 
afflictions. 

lean therefore only say that the first physiological rule for 
dress is to have all garments as light in texture and as loose in 
fashion, as is consistent with bodily comfort ; or such as will 
admit of the most perfect freedom in the exercise of every 
muscle in the body. Inequality of clothing, as before remarked, 
is a far more frequent cause of colds, than deficient clothing. 
For instance, if a person exposes a part of the body usually 
protected by clothing to a strong current of cold air, he will 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 213 

take cold sooner than by an equal exposure of the whole body. 
A great safeguard against disease, is to regulate the texture 
and quantity ot clothing according to the temperature of the 
climate in which a perscn lives, avoiding extreme colds or 
exucme heats; keeping the clothing always fresh and clean, 
(especially that of the feet,) and wearing a different garment at 
nig; it from that worn during the day, not omitting the clean- 
liness of the whole body in the general hygiene of wearing 
apparel. 

EXERCISE. 



PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT. 



Everything tends to prove that man was destined to lead a 
life of bodily, ftction. His formation — his physical siructure 
generally, and that of his joints particularly — his great capacity 
for speed and laborious exertion — the Divine injunction, that 
11 he .shall live by the sweat of his brow" — the buddy imbecility, 
and enfeebled health invariably consequent upon a sedentary 
habit — all go to prove that he was destined to lead a life of 
physical activity. Most people are apt to despise many of the 
aids to health, because of their very simplicity. A sensible 
Dervish, in the Eastern allegory, well aware of this weakness of 
human nature to despise simple things, and venerate those they 
do not understand, when called to the Sult«n to cure him of a 
disease, did not dare to simply advise him to take exercise ; 
but he said to him : — " Here is a ball which I have stuffed with 
certain rare and previous medicines. And here is a bat, the 
handle of which I have also stuffed with similar medicines. 
Your Highness must take this bat and with it beat about this 
ball, until you perspire very freely. You must do this every 
clay." His Highness did so ; and, in a short time, the exercise 
of playing at bat *;nd ball with the Dervish cured the Sultan's 
malady. But it should be remembered that there are a great 
mauy cases where medicines must be given to assist nature, 



214 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

besides the employment of exercise to facilitate the recovery of 
the patient. 

Nevertheless, exercise is one of the chief aids of all others I 
must reeommeud to be adopted as eminently essential for the 
remedying of bad health and of preserving that which is already 
good. Is is impossible for a healthy adult to be otheiwise than 
active in body or mind, or boih ; while it may be asserted, with 
abundant reason, that laziness is actually a disease, dependant 
on some abnormal condition of the organism. A variety of 
social circumstances may operate to produce an indolent dispo- 
sition of mind, and inactive habit of body, but these also 
produce a primary condition of ill-health. 

The function of respiration, by which the blood is vitalized, 
and the nutrition of the muscular structure, on which depend 
all the motive power or strength of the system, are intimately 
connected with the circulation of the blood, and this with active 
exercise. Without this, there must be unhealthy accumulation 
somewhere ; and as the larger arteries are not permanently 
dilatable, while the veins and capillary arteries are so, this accu* 
mulation or congestion must take place in the veius and capillary 
or hair-like arteries. 

When the circulation is feeble from lack of bodily exercise, 
or other cause, the blood creeps sluggishly along the minute 
vessels composing the elementary tissue of the body ; these veins 
and capillaries become gorged, which engorgement operates as 
a still farther impediment to the free flow of the blood. The 
blood, when not circulated with due energy through the ultimate 
tissues, becomes deteriorated in quality, and so, iu turn, fails to 
supply that proper nutrition, upon which, according to its 
degree of purity, all the tissues and functions of the body 
depends. It the propelling power arising from breathing pure 
air, and using active bodily exercise is not sufficiently energetic, 
the circulation through the elementary tissue is so slow that 
the blood loses its healthful arterial hue before it has reached 
the extremities of the hair-like arteries ; and thus that part of 
the tissue which ought to be filled with arterial blood is gorged 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 215 

only with black venous blood, from which the proper secretion 
necessary to the nutrition of the body cannot be separated, 
either in due abundance, or of a healthy quality. Hence, if 
this state of congestion be permitted to exist, from lack of 
active exercise and consequent free respiration, so as to vitalize 
the blood, there roust needs be a speedy wasting of flesh, and 
ail the other phenomena of consumption or any other disease. 
The strength of the system is intimately connected with the 
circulation of the blood, as stimulated in its fljw, by means of 
active bodily exercise and pure air. 

This principle is well illustrated in the effects of gymnastics 
and training, by which the muscles of any part of the body 
are remarkably invigorated by regular systematic exercise. 
People of all trades and occupations find those parts of the 
muscular system which are habitually the most exercised to be 
the most powerful. 

For healthful purposes all that is necessary, is, any way, to 
exercise all parts of the body to a degree of fatigue without 
exhaustion ; that is, to a degree which will insure an energetic 
circulation of the blood throughout the entire economy. All 
exercises, however, to secure their full benefit, should be coupled 
either with some object of utility or amusement, otherwise the 
mind is apt to labor adversely to the body. 

When 1 say that exercise is what is wanted to restore to 
health the week and languid, I mean that it is not so much 
exercise that is wanted, as the exhilarating effect which the 
enjoyment of exercise produces. A man who exercises half an 
hour unwillingly in his wood-shed is not benefited in the degree 
that one is who takes an hour's walk for pleasure through a 
beautiful country. 

It is the enjoyment of exercise in which consists its chiefest 
excellence. It is the diversion of the mind from the ailments of 
the body. The invalid is by this drawn away from himself. 
What can better accomplish this object than amusement ? 
Laughter and lively talk may be said to be a species of exer- 
cise — mental exercise — which is very often as beneficial to an 



216 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

invalid as physical exercise. Anything that will induce a fit of 
laughter, must have an influence in promoting an active circula- 
tion of blood, and, as we have seen, it is necessary to health that 
the blood should be duly aerated and flow with energy through 
the system. Whatever means may be employed to give rapid 
circulation to the blood must be conducive to health. I believe 
then, most fully in using all proper means of amusement which 
will cheer the invalid and thus be a mental stimulus or auxiliary 
to the preservation and restoration of health. 

So, not only are amusements which afford exercise to the 
mental faculties useful, but occupation — some useful business 
pursuit, which requires and hence secures attention and labor 
during several hours of each day — is absolutely essential to the 
high sanitary condition of the body, for not! ing else will insure 
so constant, regular, and equally divided exercise for both mind 
and body. 

Walking, running, leaping, hopping, dancing, rowing bonts, 
etc., are physiologically adapted to strengthen the whole muscular 
system. Even boxing and fencing are to be advised when pro- 
perly regulated. Wrestling is a dangerous method of developing 
muscular power. Ten pins, billiards, etc., are excellent exercises, 
but useful employment is better. Singing, declaiming, reading, 
etc., are admirable methods of cultivating the vocal powers 
and increasing the capacity of the respiratory apparatus. 
Riding on horseback, hunting, fishing, etc., are all more or less 
beneficial in the prevention of disease and promoting good 
health. Riding in easy carriages, sailing in boats, swinging, 
and other passive exercises, are all to be duly considered as 
remedial expedients for invalids. 

Amid the many vicissitudes of fortune, and the moral crosses 
to which female life is doomed, I recommend healthful exercise 
of the body, in order that the material fabric may be fortified 
against the thousand causes of disease continually assailing 
the sex. 

Woman comes earlier to maturity by several years than man. 
The tree of life blossoms and bears fruit sooner in the one sex 




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THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 217 

than in the other. It also sooner withers and sheds its leaves 
— but does not sooner die. Female life, at nny period is fully 
as good — perhaps a little better in respect to probable duration 
than that of the male. It is during the period of from fourteen 
to twenty-one years, that the seeds of female diseases are 
chiefly sown — or, at least, that the soil is specially prepared for 
their reception and growth. The predisposition to infirmities 
and disorders of various kinds is ?> fleeted by acts of omission 
and commission. In the first class need I mention the defi- 
ciency of healthy exercise of the bod} 7 in the open air, and of 
intellectual exercise in judicious studies. The hoop and the skip 
rope, even in city homes, might usefully supercede the piano, 
the harp and guitar, for one hour in the day, at least. In 
schools and seminaries there is no excuse — and, indeed, in many 
of them, this snlutary point of hygiene is well attended to. 
In others, however, gvmnastic exercises have been hastily 
thrown aside — partly, because some enthusiasts have carried 
them to excess — partly, because they were supposed to be 
inimical to the effeminacy of shape and features so much prized 
by parents and progeny — but chiefly, I suspect, from that lan- 
guor and disinclination to exertion, which characterize the 
higher and even the middle classes of female youth. This 
deficiency of exercise in the open air, may be considered the 
parent of one half of female disorders. The pallid complexions, 
the languid movements, the torpid secretions, the flaccid muscles, 
and disordered functions, (including glandular swellings,) and 
consumption itself, attest the truth of this assertion. 

The exercises of small children, consist in giving them the 
largest libeny and plenty of room. The cradle is a most perni- 
cious method of exercising a child to sleep, and should be 
discarded from every family. For the ordinary or wakeful 
exercises of a child, the modern " baby jumper" will be found 
a pi eferable contrivance. Among the poorer classes, the chil- 
dren, for want of room to stir in, are apt to become sickly, puny, 
peevish, and often idiotic. 

The best time for exercise is, in the morning, an hour or so 

10 



218 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

before breakfast, when the stomach is partially empty. If it 
should happen to be entirely empty, or nearly so, it should be 
fortified with a cracker or two, or some other light aliment. 
Vigorous evening exercises may nlso bo employed by persons of 
sedentary habits with great advantage. " Night woik," when 
mental or physical is at once a violation of the natural order of 
things. 

Thus, if you would preserve your health, you must take 
exercise, but not exercise exceeding your strength Remember 
the body must be induced to throw off its waste by action 
before it can be nourished. Nevertheless, it should also be 
remembered, that exercises of extreme severity are never required 
in ordinary cases of health, while in disease it must be incom- 
patible with the strength and circumstances which surround the 
patient. With plentiful bodily exercise you can scarcely be ill 
— without bodily, exertion you cannot possibly be well. By 
" well," I mean the enjoyment of as much strength, as may be 
consistent with your natural physique. 

Exercise should be taken to the extent of quickened break- 
ing and sensible perspiration. If in health, walk, when possible, 
at least from one to two miles every morning before breakfast. 
The invalid should go out into the open air, and ramble to the 
degree of strength he may possess, avoiding fatigue. 

Exercise gives health, vigor, and cheerfulness, sound sleep 
and a keen appetite. Indeed, the effects of sedentary thought- 
fulness are diseases that embitter and shorten life — interrupt 
res t — give tasteless meals, perpetual languor and ceaseless 
anxiety. 

Cheerful exercise, when at all practicable to be taken, whether 
active or passive, is absolutely an indispensable means to prevent 
or guard against disease, and to assist in the recuperative action 
of medicine when the body has become diseased. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 219 

REGULATING THE PASSIONS. 



It has been truly said that we may religiously observe all 
the laws of hygiene in relation to air, light, chink, food, tem- 
perature, exercise, clothing, steep, bathing, and the excretions, 
and yet lack one thing — one grand essential to human health 
and happiness. Yes, if our passions are our masters and not 
our slaves, they will rule and ruin us instead of obeying and 
serving our behests. There is, therefore, no single hygienic 
influence more conducive to health, happiness and long life, 
than a cheerful, equitable temper of mind ; and there is nothing 
that will more surely disorder the bodily functions, exhaust the 
vital energies, and stamp premature infirmities on the consti- 
tution, and hurry us on to an early grave, than an uneven, 
irritable, fretful, or passionate mental habit. 

Medical men, at least, well know that a violent fit of passion 
will suddenly arrest, alter, or modify the various organic secre- 
tions. Excessive mental emotion will deprave and vitiate the 
secretions as readily as a deadly poison taken into the stomach. 
A paroxysm of anger will render the bile as acid and irritating 
as a full dose of calomel ; excessive fear will relax the bowels 
equal to a strong infusion of tobacco ; intense grief will arrest 
the secretions of gastric juice as effectually as belladonna ; and 
violent rage will make the saliva as poisonous as will a mercurial 
salivation. There are many persons whose rage, either thor- 
oughly real or exaggerated, is so violent that they froth at the 
mouth, and are thrown into spasms or violent convulsions. 
These fits of anger are often assumed, however, by designing par- 
ties for the purpose of frightening stern parents and guardians 
arid others, iuto the support of their own views and wishes. 
Such persons, finding their displays copied from nature, of no 
avail, will suddenly become tame as lambs, but the effect upon 
their general health is found in the appearance of many nervous 
disorganizations, which, if the cause ue often repealed, become 
permanent. 



220 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Thousands of facts of the above kind could be mentioned, 
but enough has been presented to demonstrate the law, that a 
sound body cannot exist unless connected with a well-balanced 
mind. A vigorous exercise of the higher mental powers, a 
lively cultivation of the intellectual faculties, and the moral 
affections, will never fail to sustain and elevate the human 
character, while on the other hand the violent indulgence of the 
animal propensities and the lower order of the passions, will 
wear out the mental machinery and enervate all the physio- 
logical powers. Will not the inspiration of love exalt the soul 
to the realms of " bliss, exquisite bliss ?" Will not the influence 
of hatred depress the soul, and sink it to the nethermost depth 
of misery and despair ! Contrast the emotions of benevolence, 
or gratitude, or veneration, or conscientiousness, or mirthfulness, 
or faith, or hope, with that of envy, revenge, jealousy, fear» 
grief, remorse, or despair? The first are us refreshing to the 
soul as the gentle dews of morn to the tender blades of grass ; 
the other as withering as the fiery blasts of a crater to the 
verdant vales. The one energises the miud and re-animates the 
body — the other sinks, chills, and enfeebles both ; one manu- 
factures, creates as it were, vital power — the other wastes and 
destroys body and soul. 

Those who would maintain permanent and uniform health and 
live to an old age, will perceive the necessity for cultivating all 
the nobler impulses of our nature with unremitting care and 
judgment. When we "nourish wrath to keep it warm," we only 
add to the venom of a malicious heart. That anger which 
" dwells only in the bosom of fools," should have no inheritance 
in the bosom of the wise and thoughtful of our race. The 
"evils of lile," whatever they may be, are often " blessings in 
disguise," and therefore should be met with a brave fortitude 
and courage, instead of wailing, complaining and lamentation. 
Fretting, scolding, and fault-fiuding, not only aggravate all the 
necessary evils of life, but greatly multiply them. When we 
indulge in these faults, we but sow the dragon's teeth to reap 
a harvest of greater sorrows. More than this, we dissipate 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 221 

unwisely onr best talents and energies, and render life a curse 
instead of a blessing. The grand essential, therefore, of a 
cheerful mind is self-control. This is the great, law of mental 
hygiene. Before any one can acquire self-government, he must 
learn to govern the animal propensi ies, and make them sub- 
servient to the intellectual faculties and moral sentiments. It 
may require long, patient, and thorough discipline; it may cost 
much self-denial, and appear to demand great temporary sacri- 
fices, but it is worth all it may cost. Occasion illy it is acquired 
through long years of bitter experience ; and sometimes the 
greater part of a life is spent in suffering disappointments, 
troui les, and crosses, ere the mind is found at peace with itself, 
and in right relations to all surrounding nature. Happy are 
they who can, even in such expensive schools, learn the art of 
adapting themselves to the invariable laws of the universe, 
which they cannot successfully oppose, or in any respect alter ! 
Indeed, the only guarantee a mau can have for a long life of 
health and happiness, is to constantly cherish and maintain an 
even, cheerful, and hopeful spirit. 



LIFE, HEALTH AND DISEASE. 

What is Life ? In general terms life may be said to be a 
subtle emanation of Deity — a principle that pervades all the 
works of creation, whether organic or inorganic. It is a sort 
of Entity, whose nature is as mysterious and unfathomable as 
that of Divinity himself. Many scientific men have contended 
that life is electricity, and arguments and experiments have 
been adduced to show that such is the fact. For instan e, a 
scientific body of France pulverized stone, and by the use of 
electricity produced fro n the atoms living insects. But this 
and similar experiments are accepted as evidence that electricity 
is not life, but is a leading phenomena of its actuality. Life is 
something neither physical nor spiritual. It is allied to bo;h, 
but is neither. It is not soul, for soul is something infinitely 



222 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

higher than life — a something of which life itself is but an inad- 
equate, visible manifestation. 

Health is perhaps a subtle thing, yet most importantly pal- 
pable to our senses and perceptions. It is that state of the 
human body in which the structure of all the parts is sound, 
and their functions regularly and actively performed, rendering 
the individual fit for all the duties and enjoyments of life. ' Or, 
in other words, it is that condition of the animal economy when 
the functions of all the organs, beginning with the heart and 
lungs, act in natural and harmonious relation, the one with the 
other, and the whole together, rendering existence not only a 
state of completeness, but a pleasure, a beauty, and a charm, 
and therefore the chiefest cause and leading feature of all from 
which the human being derives that phase of joy called bliss. 
In the various temperaments the phenomena of health are 
somewhat different ; hence, what would at once preserve it in 
one, might not preserve it in or restore it to another, until some 
reasonable period of time had elapsed. He. lth varies much 
in people of the many occupations which necessity and circum- 
stances compel them to adopt for a livelihood or for pleasure, 
and the acuieness of the senses which would be necessary in 
some recreative or productive occupations, would be morbid in 
persons otherwise engaged. But the general symptoms of 
he. lth, are, in all temperaments, a sparkling eye, a clean skin, 
a white and rose-blended complexion, (unless where the tem- 
perament naturally prescribes a rich and glowing olive,) ruby 
lips, pearly teeth, untainted breath, glossy hair, expanded chest, 
elastic spiue, muscular limbs, symmetrical waist, well built and 
firm pelvis, fleshy thighs and calves, and a buoyant grace of 
the whole body. Added to these we have a rich and melodious 
voice, (wherever the slightest hoarseness or discordance of tone 
is noticed look for danger,) and a calm and cultivated spirit in 
the old, a joyous spirit in the young. What munificent gifts 
are these, and who should fail, by every means in his power, 
to secure them ? Disease is the opposite of health, and means 
any departure from the normal coudition of the general organ- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 223 

isra, or any impairment or derangement of any function by 
which the regular action of any other one or of the whole, are 
made or forced to work in an irregular or unnatural manner — 
producing and entailing disorder, pain, misery, and death ! 
We see disease in the lustreless and phreuzied eye, in the 
pallid and sunken cheeks, in the parched lips, in the jaundiced 
or yellow skin, in the contracted chest, in the difficult respi- 
ration, in the racking cough, in the expectoration of tubercles 
and sputa from tho lungs, in the palpitating heart, in the 
scrofulous sores and ulcers, in the bloated or attenuated abdo- 
men, in the disabled legs and arms, in decayed teeth and 
toothless jaws, in fetid breath, in crooked spine, in the deformed 
pelvis, in all derangements of the sexual organs, in baldness, 
in disordered stomach and bowels, in neuralgias, rheumatisms, 
leprosies, spasms, epilepsies, palsies, loss of the senses of sight, 
hearing, smelling, taste and touch, hypochondrias, manias, 
drunkenness, pains, aches, wounds, bruises, maimings, and in 
innumerable other agonies ! With the simple methods by 
which health can be preserved by those who were born to 
health, how astonishing it is that disease and misery are the 
general rule, and health and pleasure the exception 1 Who of 
all the human race may now say, " I have health I I am ac- 
tually living in a state of nature, or in that perfect mental and 
physical condition in which I was or ought to have been born." 
Not one is my reply. We m\y therefore regard life as a 
negative rather than a positive quality of existence. Occa- 
sionally there may be freedom from the slightest degree of 
actual suffering, and yet that pleasurable condition which wot Id 
be natural to the regular co-operative work of all the organs 
of the body will be wanting. 

In health, our moments fly on lightning wing, and we are 
scarcely conscious of their rapid exit ; in sickness, on the con- 
trary, our moments are clogged with leaden heels, and pass in 
that lingering manner as 10 render our sufferings seemingly the 
more acute by reason of the slow or tardy march of time. To 



224 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

the sick, time does not pass lightly, but with the heavy tread 
of a giant. 

How inestimable is that state of being comprehended under 
the name of health ! — yet how few are ever led to consider its 
priceless value and importance. Health, perfect health, is not 
to be found in our present age, among the races of men ; yet 
even in its negative aspect, its most deteriorated quality, what 
were all the joys, all the riches, nil the advantages of this world 
without its possession? Unless all, from the highest to the 
lowest, from the king to the beggar, learn to prize health and 
avoid disease, — death, who is no respecter of persons, will 
continue to reap his rich harvests among them all. Caesar 
could not escape, nor could the renown of a thousand victories, 
diffuse an anodvnic or soporific influence over the pillow of the 
great Napoleon, nor save the laurels of Marengo from the 
blighting mists of St. Helena! Intellectual cultivation often 
times sows the seeds of physical deterioration. When we see 
that the prince is equally liable to the same physical and men- 
tal miseries as the vagrant, it becomes every body to bear in 
remembrance the axiom that a sound body is the natural basis 
of a sound mind, and vice versa, and that every rational method 
should be adopted to preserve them. I have shown bru- fly- 
that there is no condition or state of man that is exempt from 
disease and death. It may now be asked, Are there no means 
of preventing the ravages of the one, and postponing the sad 
triumph of the other ? No means of restoring lost health, or 
of rendering sickness compatible with contentment, or even 
happiness itself. Yes. Tiie severest diseases are an.d may be 
prevented ; and are curable and cured— even consumption 
itself when judicious treatment is applied. All right t:. inking 
persons will admit that sickness may be obviated, disease 
mitigated, and even death robbed of his prey for years, by 
approved remedies rightly employed. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 225 

SLEEP. 



Sleep is as much a necessity to the existence of all animal 
organizations, as li^ht, air, or any other element incident to their 
maintenance and healthful development. The constitutional 
rel tion of man to the changes of the seasons and the succes- 
sion of days and nights, implies the necessity of sleep. Natural 
or functional sleep, is a complete cessation of the operations of 
the brain and sensatory nervous ganglia, and is, therefore, 
attended with entire unconsciousness. Thoroughly healthy 
people, it is believed, never dream. D. earning implies imperfect 
rest — some disturbing cause, usually gastric irritation, exciting 
the br iin to feeble and disordered functional action. Individ- 
uals of very studious habits, and those whose labors are 
disproportionately intellectual, require more sleep than those 
whose duties or pursuits require more manual and less mental 
exertion. The waste of nervous influence in the brain of lite- 
rary or studious persons, requires a longer time to be repaired 
or supplied, than in those even who endure the largest amount 
of physical toil, without particular necessity for active thought 
while engaged in their daily manual pursuits. But no avocation 
or habit affects this question so much as the qualiiy of the 
ingesta. r l hose who subsist principally upon a vegetable diet, 
it is said, require less sleep than those who subsist on both 
animal and vegetable food. It seems certain that herbivorous 
animals sleep less than the carnivorous ; while the omnive.oe 
require more sleep than the herbivarae, and less than the carni- 
voiae. Man, therefore partaking most of the omnivorous, living 
on a mixed diet of animal and vegetable ft/od, requires more 
sleep than the ox, the horse, or the sheep, but much less than 
the lion, the tiger, or the bear. 

Fhysiolog sts are not well agreed respecting the natural 
duration of sleep. Indeed, no positive rule can be liid down 
on this subject; the stitute of Nature, however, appears to 
read : — Retire soon after dark and arise with the first rays of 

10* 



226 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

morning liirbt ; — and this is equally applicable to all climates and 
all seasons, at least, in all parts of the globe proper for human 
habitations, for in the cold season, when the nights are longer, 
more sleep is required. 

History shows that those who have lived the longest, were 
the longest sleepers, the average duration of sleep being about 
eight hours. The time of sleep of each individual, must depend 
on his temperament, manner of life, and dietetic habits. For 
instance, John Wesley, with an active nervous temperament, 
and a rigidly plain vegetable diet, and who performed an 
immense amount of mental and bodily labor, slept but four or 
five hours out of the twenty-four; while Daniel Webster, with a 
more powerful frame but less active organizition, and living on 
a mixed diet, had a " talent for sleeping" eight or nine hours. 
Benjamin Franklin used to say that seven hours sleep was enough 
for any man, eight hours for a woman, and nine hous for a fool ! 
Nevertheless, the invariable rule for all whose habits are correct 
is to retire early in the evening, and sleep as long as the slum- 
ber is quiet, be the time six, seven, eight, or nine hours. Those 
who iudulge in late suppers, or eat heartily before retiring, are 
usually troubled with unpleasant dreams, nightmare, and are 
oftentimes found dead in the morning. Restless dozing in the 
morning is exceedingly debilitating to the constitution. Persons 
addicted to spirituous liquors and tobacco, in connection with 
high-seasoned food, are in danger of oversleeping even to the 
extent of very considerably increasing the stupidity and imbe- 
cility of mind, and indolence and debility of body naturally 
and necessarily consequent upon those habits. Sleeping in the 
day-time, or after meals is not a natural law of the physiology 
of man. No one requires to sleep after a meal unless he has 
eaten more food than his system required. Sleep may be 
indulged in during the day, when sufficient sleep is not had at 
night ; but this sleeplessness need at night seldom occur, were 
our habits made couformable to the general hygienic require- 
ments of Nature. Children may sleep all they are inclined to. 
The position of the body is of some importance. It should be 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. . 227 

perfectly flat or horizontal with the head, a little varied by a 
small pillow. Sleeping with the head elevated by two or three 
pillows or bolsters is certainly a bad habit. The neck is bent, 
the chest is compressed, and the body unnaturally crooked. 
Children are made round-shouldered from their heads bein<r 
placed on high pillows. The beds should be made of straw, 
corn-husks, hair, various palms and grasses ; never of feathers, 
which can only be meutioned in reprehension. The bed cloth- 
ing should always be kept scrupulously clean, and adapted to 
the season of the year, while the bed-rooms should always be 
sufficiently large and airy as best conducive to sound sleep and 
general vigorous health. 



BATHING. 

Were all to follow the natural laws of their organization, in 
respect to eating, drinking, clothing, exercise and temperature, 
an occasional bath or washing would be sufficient ; but as the 
laws of life and health are transgressed in a thousand wa3's, 
the sum total of all the unphysiological habits of civilized life 
is a condition of body characterized by deficient external circu- 
lation, capillary obstruction, and internal congestion or engorg- 
ment. To counteract this morbid condition of the system, 
bathing of the whole body, on regular occasions, canuot, or 
should not be omitted. For hygienic purposes, the particular 
process is merely a matter of convenience. You may bathe ia 
a river if you like, or may employ the shower-bath ; but these 
modes are no more beneficial than the towel or sponge bath. 
After the ablution, in whatever manner performed, ca:e should 
be taken to thoroughly rub the body with a crash towel. The 
best time for such purification of the body is on rising from bed 
in the morning. The temperature of the water should be adapted 
to suit different circumstances of constitutional health and 
disease. Cold or cool baths are best for those in robust health, 
but those who are deficient in blood, or have a low vitality, 
should use tepid water. Extremely feeble persons should com- 



228 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

meriee with warm water, and gn dually reduce the temperature 
as reaction improves. Sponging the body with spirits or 
vinegar, may prove highly beneficial in many cases of debility, 
where water would be injurious. Excessive bathing tends to 
make the skin harsh and scaly by diluting the secretions of the 
sebaceous glands, the oil of which is intended to be regularly and 
naturally poured out to the surface of the skin in order to keep 
it smooth, glossy, and soft. Bathe as often as may be necessary 
to keep the skin clean, and you will then have fulfilled the 
requirements of hygienic bathing. 

AIR AND SUNSHINE. 



As air may be said to be the very pabulum of life, it is 
highly essential that it should be pure — inasmuch as auy dete- 
rioration of it never fails to render the blood impure, and thus 
ultimately to affect both mind and body. 

Air covers the entire globe, pressing alike upon land and 
water, having a depth of about forty-five miles. This vast 
ocean of air we call an atmosphere, from two Greek words, 
signifying vapor and space — it being an immense fluid sphere 
or globe. This atmosphere presses upon man and upon every 
object on the surface of the earth, with a force equal to fifteen 
pounds to every square inch. A man of average size has a 
surface of two thousand five hundred square inches ; accordingly 
the air in which he lives presses upon him with a weight of 
eighteen tons. This would of course crush every bone in his 
body, but for the fluids within him, which establish an equili- 
brium, and leave him unoppressed. 

Pure air contains seventy-nine parts of nitrogen and twenty- 
one parts of oxygen. If we add a single part more of oxygen 
to the air, it would no longer be atmospheric air, but aqua 
fortis, an element capable of destroying every thing coming 
beneath its terrible power. 

The quantity of air consumed by a man of average size at 
each inspiration, is from fifteen to forty cubic inches, according 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 229 

to the capacity of the lungs. Thus, in about an hour, a person 
consumes about six thousand and sixty-six pints, or two hogs- 
heads of air. This air meets in the lungs in one hour, aoom 
one half of that amount of blood, or twenty-four in twenty four 
hours. In other words, the quantity of blood which circulates 
through the system, is estimated to be about one-eighth of the 
weight of the body. So that a man weighing one hundred and 
fifty pounds will have in his circulation about eighteen and three- 
quarter pounds of blood. The whole of this large quantity of 
blood has been proved, by careful experiment, to circulate 
through the blood vessels in the almost incredible brief period 
of sixty-five and seventy-six one-hnndreths seconds of time, 
and that is very little over one minute I This indeed seems 
wonderful, when we consider the vast extent of vessels it has to 
travel through ; the arteries, the veins, and tiie minute capil- 
laries through which it must be urged with no little force. 

The physiology of the respiratory functions explains the 
relation of an abundant supply of air to the maintenance of 
health and the attainment of longevity. Fresh air iu the lungs 
is so immediately essential to life, that most animals in less than 
one minute, when deprived of it, suffocate, become unconscious, 
and appear to be dead, — real death occurring in a few minutes, 
if air is not supplied. 

There are at least three objects to be accomplished by 
breathing, namely : the renewal of the blood and the taking 
of impurities out of it; the warming of the body; and the 
finishing up of the process of digestion, and the change of chyle 
into nutritive blood. That carbonic acid and water are borne 
out of the lungs with every breath, may be easily proved. If 
we breathe into lime-water, it will become white. This is 
owing: to the carbonic acid in the breath uniting with the 
lime, and producing carbonate of lime. Then if we breathe 
upon a piece of glass, it becomes wet, sjiowing that there is 
w.itery vapor in the breath. That the blood receives oxygen 
from the air we breathe, is proved by the fact that the in-going 
breath has one-fourth more oxygen in it than the out-going. 



230 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

The lungs then take oat of all the air we breathe one-fourth 
of its oxygen. If we breathe it over a second, a third, or a 
fourth time, it not only has less oxygen each time, and is less 
useful for the purposes of respiration, but it becomes positively 
more hurtful by reason of the poisonous carbonic acid, which, 
at every out-going breath, it carries with it from the lungs. 

Equal iu importance with the quantity of air we breathe, is 
its purity. The supply of air for an ordinary man to breathe 
each minute, is from seven to ten cubic feet. Now, suppose a 
hundred persons to be confined in a room thirty feet in length, 
breadth, and height, the room containing nearly thirty thousand 
cubic feet, it follows that the whole air of the room would be 
rendered unfit for respiration on account of the vast volume 
of carbonic acid thrown out of the lungs and skin of the one 
hundred persons thus crowded together. This proves the 
importance of always having an abundant supply of pure 
atmospheric air always kept in circulation in crowded assem- 
blies, churches, school-rooms, theatres, factories, workshops and 
dwellings. 

Consider the effect of sleeping in a small room, seven feet 
by nine, not furnished with the means of ventilation. If a 
person sleeps eight hours in such a room, he will spoil during 
the time one thousand nine hundred and twenty cubic feet of 
air, rendering the air of the room positively dangerous to 
breathe. Every disease is aggravated by the breathing of 
bad air ! Yet it is common to close all the doors and windows 
where sick persons are confined, lest the patients should take 
cold. This is a bad practice. The sick should have plenty 
of fresh air. Their comfort is promoted by it, and their 
recovery hastened. It is utterly impossible for the lungs to be 
expanded in an impure atmosphere, because the air-passages 
irritated by the extraneous particles spasmodically contract to 
keep them out. The consequence of this is, those persons who 
reside permanently in an atmosphere charged with foreign 
ingredients or miasms, find their lungs continually contracting. 

All sedentary habits weaken the abdominal muscles, and 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 231 

thereby lessen the activity of the breathing process. . Intense 
mental application, if long continued, powerfully diminishes tho 
respiratory functions. Persons habitually in deep thought 
with the brain laboring at its utmost capacity, do not breathe 
deep and free, imd are consequently short lived. All crooked 
or constrained bodily positions affect respiration injuriously. 
Rending, writing, sitting, standing, speaking, or laboring, with 
the trunk of the body bent forward, is extremely hurtful. In 
all mechanical or manual labor, the body should be bent or 
lean on the hip joints. The trunk should always be kept 
straight. Dispense with bed curtains, if you can. In sleep 
the head should never be raised very high, as that position 
oppresses the lungs ; nor should the sleeper iucline toward the 
face, with the shoulders thrown forward. 

Grates and fire-places secure much better ventilation than 
stoves. No stove, especially furnaces, should be used without 
the means of the free admission of external air into the room. 
Lamps, candles, gasburners, etc, are so many methods of con- 
suming oxygen and rendering the air irrespirable. Smoking 
lamps are a very common source of vitiated air. The bad air 
of steamboats, railroad cars, stages, omnibuses, etc, are a 
source of constant suffering to many. I may here remark that 
the general misapprehension of the theory of catching cold, 
frequently produces the evil sought to be avoided. More colds 
are taken in overheated than in too cold places, and still more 
are owiug to vitiated or ioul air* In sleeping and other apart- 
ments, where thorough ventilation is impossible, the air may 
be rapidly changed and materially freshened, by opening all 
the doors and windows, and then swinging one door violently 
forward and backward. The rules of ventilation apply to all 
rooms and apartments alike, whether in dwelling houses or 
travelling vehicles. There is no necessity for breathing air 
which has lost a part of its oxygen and acquired a portion 
of carbonic acid. The supply of good air is ample. 

In connection with a full supply of atmospheric air to every 
human being, the importance of plenty of sunshine is not to be 



232 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

overlooked. Pure air for the lungs and bright sunlight for 
the eyes, is a physiologioal maxim which should never be for- 
gotten. The nutiitive process is materially checked in all veg- 
etable and animal life, when deprived of light for a consid- 
erable time. In the case of vegetables, they become etiolated 
or blanched. Almost the entire population of our large cities 
who occupy back rooms and rear buildings where the sun 
never shines, and cellars and vaults below the level of the 
ground, on the shaded side of narrow streets, is more or less 
diseased. Of those who do not die of acute diseases a majority 
exhibit unmistakable marks of imperfect development and 
deficient vitality. During the prevalence of epidemics, as the 
cholera, the shaded side of a narrow street invariably exhibits 
the greatest ratio of fatal cases. A certain amount of shade 
is essential to comfort, but when it reaches the point of exclud- 
ing sunshine to a large degree, it becomes a positive evil. 
Let us always welcome the visits of the healthful air and 
glowing sunshine, and look out continually for the essential 
conditions of vijror and cheerfulness. 



OLD AGE OR LONGEVITY. 



The true philosophy of life i3 to live and enjoy — to use and 
not abuse the essentials to human longevity and happiness. 
As we read in Holy Writ, in the earlier history of m .u, when 
the air was free fix in infection, the soil exempt from pollution, 
and man's food was plain and natural, individuals lived, on the 
average, four or five hundred years ; the maximum point of 
longevity recorded — that, ia the case of Methuselah — being ui-ie 
hundred and sixty-nine years. Without speculating upon the 
problem whether the years of the early historians included the 
same period of time as the years of our present almanac, it is 
sufficient ior all practical purposes to know the general law, 
that human lives may be lengthened to one or two hundred 
years, or dwindled to the " shortest span," by our voluntary or 
individual habits. If it can be proved that any one man has 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 233 

lived one hundred, two hundred, or even three hundred years, 
under favorable hygienic circumstances, it will be sufficient 
evidence of a physiological principle that most men rnny attain 
to similar extreme longevity, by a mere simple obedience to 
the natural laws of his being. 

The examples of extreme longevity are too numerous to be 
detailed even in a book of many pa^es, bat; a few examples 
may be cited on this point. Haller, the celebrated English 
physician, during his time, collected more than one thousand 
cases of persons in Europe, who attained the ages from one 
hundred to one hundred and seventy years. In Baker's 
"Curse of England," we find a list of one hundred individuals 
whose ages ranged from ninety-five to three hundred and 
seventy ! Twenty-two of these reached the age of one hundred 
and fifty and upwards, and thirty exceeded one hundred and 
twenty years. Modern statistics exhibit, numerous examples 
of persons in the United States and ali puts of the world, 
attaining more than one hundred years. Indeed, it was com- 
mon to the American Indians, previous to the introduction 
of " fire-water " among them, to live to one hundred years 
of age; although, as a general rule, the duration of life among 
the savage races is much shorter than among the civilized and 
cultivated people of the globe. 

In our present artificial state of society, it is not probable 
that one in a thousand persons dies a natural death. Alas ! 
disease and violence, sweep, with few exceptions, the entire 
human family to an untimely grave. Even the celebrated 
R/ichard Parr, who died at one hundred and fifty- two years of 
age, came to an unnatural death by eating too heartily at a 
feast ^iven in his honor by an English king ; while Richard 
Lloyd, who was in full health and vigor at one hundred and 
thirty-two years, died soon after from being persuaded to eat 
flesh meat and drink malt liquor, to which he had never been 
accustomed in all his life before. 

On physiological principles, natural death results from a 
gradual consolidation of the structures of the body. In infaucy 



234 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

the fluids are in much larger proportion than the solids, but 
as we grow older the fluids decrease and the solids increase — 
thus gradually changing the flexibility and elasticity of youth 
to the stiffness and immobility of age. Thus in a perfectly 
normal condition of the organism, all the functions, powers and 
senses decline in the same harmonious relations in which they 
were developed. As the process of condensation goes on 
equally and imperceptibly, the motive-powers grow torpid, 
the nutritive functions are enfeebled, the sensibility becomes 
dull, the external senses are obtunded, and lastly, the mental 
manifestations disappear — death occurs without a struggle or 
a groan. 

Cjitain political and social economists have attempted to 
prove that old age and a vast population are not desirable 
things, on the ground that, while population increases geometri- 
cally, the alimentary productions of the earth only increase 
arithmetically ; hence, that some scheme of death or destruction 
is requisite or indispensable to kill off, or clear the ground of 
existing human beings as last as the coming generations de- 
mand their places. In other words, that it is necessary that 
disease, violence, pesiilence, murder, wars, and death should 
prevail, because of the earth's incapacity to produce sufficient 
food for the whole race of human beings, were all permitted 
to live out their natural lives, and die a natural death. A 
small amount of rational investigation will show the fallacies 
of all such theories. Indeed, under existing governments 
and social arrangements, more than three-fourths of all the 
lands and all the labor, so far as the production of the 
means of human sustenance is concerned, is literally wasted, 
or worse than wasted ; while a large extent of tbe earth's 
surface has never yet been brought under cultivation, and 
that part which is cultivated the best admits of vast improve- 
ment. 

Casting all speculation aside, it will not be denied that this 
earth was made the residence of man, and that God expressly 
enjoined upon him to be fruitful, and to occupy aud replenish 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 235 

the earth, giving- him at the same time dominion over all the 
vege-able and animal kingdoms, as a means for subsistence and 
happiness, while progressing through the gradual stages of his 
natural or terrestrial existence. Hence, the creator did 
not bring man into existence, without first furnishing him with 
the means of an abundant supply of all the elements requisite 
for a long life of health and joy. Man, however, has grossly 
violated the laws of nature, and blundered on in his perversity, 
till life has actually become a grievous burden, and extreme 
old age a great and moral curse instead of a divine and special 
blessing. 

Were it necessary, a thousand reasons might be given for 
believing that, the ear ih now has, and ahvavs will have, room 
and food enough for all the population that cau be produced by 
human beings who live agreeably to the laws of their natural 
organism. Indeed, it is a philosophical maxim that '" intensive 
life cannot be extensive." The races of man have now a hurried, 
stimulated, forced and disorderly existence, marrying at too 
early an age, bringing myriads of children into the world, 
" scarce half made up," only to perish by thousands in the 
| earliest infancy, or to drawl out a miserable and unhealthy 
existence, if their iives are prolonged t:> manhood's estate, and 
sink at last, even then, into premature graves, from continued 
and perverse abuses of the hygienic and dietetic rules of life. 

As already said, if the body developes itself slowly and 
healthfully, (as it always will iu its natural state) it is only rea- 
sonable to suppose that the periods of infancy, childhood, and 
adolescence or maturity would be greatly prolonged, by the 
more simple conformity to the original laws o: our being ; the 
period of youth might and would be extended to what we now 
call " old age," say " three score and ten," and ° three score 
and ten" would be but the beginning of vigorous manhood to 
be indefinitely prolonged, reaching on to a hundred, or even 
two hundred years 1 

The special means to insure sound health and a long life, are 
to avoid all errors iu diet and personal habits. As the fluids 



236 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

and solids of the human organism are formed from the materials 
taken into the stomach as food and drink, it follows that we all 
onght to abstain more than we do, from concentrated materials 
of aliment, and live more on fruits and vegetable substances, 
and fret ourselves less with the cares of the world ; so all indi- 
viduals would be able to maintain the juices of the body, and 
reduce, in a large degree, the solid elements which induce 
rigidity of muscles, thickening of membrane, contraction of 
organs, all leading to disease, premature debility, old age, and 
death. 

Let us all then strive to return to the elementary principles 
of organic or human life. Let our diet be plain, simple and of 
a juicy nature. Let us refrain from excesses of all kinds, 
whether connected with our mental or physical powers, and 
thereby secure a long lease on life, attended with a thousand 
blessings, unknown to those who lead " fast lives," eat and drink 
immoderately, and indulge in the various forms of intemperate 
or luxurious habits. It is never too late to commence a reform 
in all these things. The oldest person now living might prolong 
his life to an indefinate period, by avoiding the errors named, 
and submitting himself to the prior-ordeal mandates of nature. 
To assist nature in her work of regeneration and recuperation 
of the human organism, my " Renovating Pills " will be found 
of most wonderful efficacy, in connection with the hygienic and 
dietetic requirements already indicated. They will thus prolong 
the period of youth to vigorous manhood, and vigorous man- 
hood to the extremest limit of life ever yet vouchsafed to the 
human being. The already "old and feeble" so called, may be 
sure of having their lives greatly prolonged, and finally, iu the 
inevitable ordinances of Heaven, or the laws of gradual pro- 
gress and decay, passing away with cheerful resignation and 
peace to that mysterious bourne from which no mortal traveler 
ever has returned. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 237 

PROPRIETARY REMEDIES. 



Many persons have a strong" prejudice against proprietary 
remedies. That this prejudice is entirely unwarrantable no 
individual who possesses a knowledge of the facts will deny ; 
but i he majority of the people who entert iin this prejudice have 
imbibed it without thought, and coniinue to hold last to it as a 
matter of fashion. Indeed, the old clamor against proprietary 
remedies, and which still exists in a moderated degree, was 
and is attributable to a lack of proper inquiry. As regards the 
application of the title of "patent medicines" to all such 
remedies, I cm but say th it I do not know exactly how it 
originated ; but I do know th it such a thing as a patent med- 
icine was never placed before the public of this or any other 
country by issue of a patent right. Tiie remedies which are 
so spoken of, are properly called proprietary remedies, and are 
protected by trade marks which it is forgery to imitate. The 
origin of the unjust and untenable prejudice against such medi- 
cines or remedies is very clear. For hundreds of years medical 
practice was shrouded in mystery, and the professors of surgery 
and physic had so long kept the secrets of their sciences hidden 
from the world, that they honestly considered any infraction of 
the rules of conduct by which they had bound themselves in 
council, to be governed, to be heresy and humbug of the rank- 
est description. 

Hence, when a few of these public benefactors, who had dis- 
covered, by hard study and benevolent experiment, certain 
specifics for many of the severest maladies which nfflict the 
human race, put their discoveries up in bottles and boxes, and 
labelled them, and gained a demand for them oy the powerful 
aid of the press and at a very moderate cost to the purch iser, 
the whole faculty became excited and at once set to work to 
alarm the people and save their former fees. If (in anobstiuate 
and dangerous case,) for a few dollars a cure could be effected, 



238 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

and the very costly attendance, for months, of a visiting physi- 
cian could be dispensed with, what was to become of those who 
adhered to the old style of doing things? They would be 
ruined, they argued, and as self preservation is the Grst law of 
nature, they raised the cry of quackery. It was taken up and 
faithfully circulated by both the ignorant and the intelligent, 
and, in m^iny communities it still forms a traditionary prejudice. 
Notwithstanding all this, the great economy, and physical benefit 
of truly good proprietary remedies have been making headway 
for nearly half a century ; and the time is not far distant when 
it will not be considered, by any body of either high or low 
degree, unprofessional for a regular physician to bottle, box, 
and label his remedies, and sell them, (as other goods are sold) 
to all sufferers who have good reason to believe in their 
efficacy. 

All the proprietary remedies which hold an unimpeachable 
position before the country, are the results of the studies, labors 
and experiments of rare skill and ability It certainly matters 
nothing, then, whether I write my prescription, (a list of ingre- 
dients) in a sick chamber and send it to a druggist to be 
bottled, or boxed, and labled, or, selecting the purest and best 
materials, I make it up with the greatest of care, and bottle or 
box it myself. Indeed, the patient is protected by the latter 
course, for if I do not perform through my remedies, all that I 
promise, my reputation is injured, my honor is impugned, and I 
suffer pecuniarily, for no medicine which does not possess 
undoubted merit can maintain its stand for any reasonable length 
of time, and consequently cannot yield its proprietor even a 
medium living. Therefore, if my preparations are worthless, 
they will be short-lived, and my p actice, or business, will 
become a nonentity. If, on the other hand, they are what I 
claim that they are, they will become favorably known every- 
where, and no prejudice in the world can materially retard 
their progress, or impede or impair their usefulness. Many 
preparations, or so-called remedies, both worthless and pernicious, 
have been placed before the people with great flourishes of 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 23 J 

rhetoric and argument, and have " died and made no sign f bat 
this would never have occurred had it not been for the custom- 
ar} 7 declaration of those who were not experienced in matters 
truly and honorably medical, tint anything, however useless, in 
the shape of a specific or proprietary medicine, would, if well — • 
or as the cant phrase is, "splendidly," — advertised make its 
proprietors a fortune. That talk was a ^aal mistake for many 
unprofessional capitalists. Yery large sums of money have 
been lost by those who engaged in what was conventionally 
termed lt the patent medicine business," under this mistaken 
and ridiculous estimate of public wisdom, confidence, and 
credulity. 

To come to another point. There are hundreds of sick indi- 
viduals of both sexes who listen to the silly talk of the prejudiced; 
and make up their minds, to grant without reflection, that such 
talk is true. For instance, one man acknowledges that the 
P Magic Assimilant n cured his neighbor of fits, and that lie is 
also subject to fits, but never tried the remedy. Upon being 
asked why he does not adopt the means and method of cure 
that restored his- neighbor to life and happiness, he gives it as 
his opinion, tjiat what would cure his neighbor would do him 
no good whatever. Somebody told him so, and he takes it for 
granted. This has been one of the arguments against proprie- 
tary remedies. Its folly is, I think, too apparent to require any 
refutation ; but, I will say, by way thereof, that if a prep tration 
purifies one individual's blood, it will purify the blood of any 
body else who uses it. A stimulant is a stimulant, a diuretic is 
a diuretic, and a tonic is a tonic, no matter who may use either. 
Would it be sensible for anybody to say, that although water 
had drowned his friend, or that gunpowder had blown up an 
acquaintance, that neither water nor gunpowder would have any 
effect upon him? The same rule of a«gument would be as 
reasonable in the one case as in the other. 

I think that common sense teaches us very plainly that a 
proprietary remedy will not be sustained by general or particul «r 
patronage unless it is positively good ! My readers uiuy ask 



240 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

how they are to know that the " Acaciax Balsam," " Renova- 
ting Pills," " Magic Assimilant," and " Etherial Ointment" 
are all that I claim them to be. (See pages 279, 285, 291, 
jiiid 297.) I answer : first, they have been before the people of 
Europe and America twelve years, and that the demand for 
them, (without "splendid" advertising,) is greater now than 
ever, and continually increasing; next, that the most conclusive 
and flattering testimonials from nearly every part of both 
Hemispheres are in my possession, and that it would require a 
book larger than this to contain the one tenth of them. I 
have, consequently, for the better information of the general 
reader, selected a few of those which, I trust, may be carefully 
considered for the sake of suffering humanity. They were sent 
to me, without solicitation, by persons who may, at this present 
writing be readily communicated with. Some are in the form 
of sworn affidavits, bearing county seals and other official 
endorsements of their complete truth. 

By request of the United States government, a proprietary 
stamp is affixed to every bottle, box, or pot upon which my 
name appears. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



CURE OF CONSUMPTION. 



Boston, Mass., Feb. 13, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — The very first case of Consumption in which 
I tried your " Acacian Balsam," was one which I considered 
hopeless under any course of treatment ! In four weeks the 
patient, a lady, was, as I m iy say, cured, having been entirely 
relieved of a severe sore throat, and of a racking cough and 
regular hectic fever. She now eats and sleeps well, and does 
the housework for a family of four or five persons. I have no 
doubt of her entire recovery. ' 

DR. J. LE1TCH. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 241 

DYSPEPSIA CONQUERED, 

Grafton, N. H., Sept. 18, 18G5. 
Drt. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I am progressing rapidly in health and 
strength, after taking one bottle of your "Magic Assimilant." 
I am now able to do light work, while before I was scarcely 
able to leave the house. Its effects have been truly magical. 
Send me another bottle. 

ALMIRA B. HASKINS. 



ANOTHER SEVERE CASE OP FITS CURED. 

Bethany, Harrison County, Mo., July 3, 1865. 
Dr. O. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir — In the }'ear 1857, I was attacked with epi- 
lepsy or fits, from that time until 1864, I had them constantly 
every week, sometimes two or more a week ; they affected my 
mind so that I could scarcely recollect any tiling for more thin 
a few minutes ; my general health suffered very much, so that 
life almost became a burden. About the first of June, 1864, I 
accidently came across one of your pamphlets ; a man gave it 
to me in Gentry county, and asked me thirty dollars a bottle 
for the medicine. I procured your address and got a friend to 
send for three bo' ties of your medicine, since which time I have 
been taking it constantly, and I am restored to perfect health. 
1 have not had a fir or any thing like one since I commenced 
the use of your medicine. I have consulted several of the best 
physicians in the State, among the rest, Dr. McDowell, of the 
St Louis medical school, and all of them told me that my case 
was incurable. Feeling so gra-eful to you for the relief your 
medicines have jnven me, I send you this iu the hope that it 
may be an advantage to others similarly affected. 

Respectfully, 

JOHN P. DEVERS. 
State of Missouri, \ 
County of Harrison, j 

On the 3d day of July, A. D. 1865, personally appeared 
before me, clerk of the Circuit, John P. Devers, who is person- 
ally known to me to be the person who subscribed to the fol- 
lowing affidavit, and he was by me sworn to the truth thereof. 

11 



242 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

In testimony whereof, I have set my hand and affixed my official 
seal at office in Bethany, the day and year aforesaid. 

JOHN W. BROWN, Clerk. 

STILL ANOTHER. 

Belvidere, III, July 18, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I have cured with your " Magic Assimilant," 
a boy who has had fits for a number of years. Before taking 
your medicine he had them frequently, but has not had a fit 
since commencing it, which was several years ago. 

A. MOSS. 

COSTIVENESS AND SEVERE PAINS. 

Hermann, Ripley Co., Ind., Aug. 21, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Dear Sir. — Gratitude prompts me to address a few 
lines to you in praise of your most valuable medicine. It has 
helped me more than any medicine I have ever taken ; your 
pills never had an equal ; they are the best regulator that I 
ever have taken ; one pill a month is sufficient — sometimes one 
in two months ; I have taken pills so for a number of years, 
and never have found any pills to do me half so much good as 
yours. I am entirely out at present, on account of the family's 
using them too. Your Ointment never had an equal. Your 
medicines are doing wonders wherever I have heard from them. 

ELIZA M. FERREN. 

FITS OP TEN YEARS STANDING. 

Bethany, Harrison Co., Mo., July 3, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown :— 

Sir. — My daughter, eighteen years old, has had 
fits for ten years, until some time in July, 1864, when I got 
some of your " Assimilant." Since which time she has never 
had a fit of epilepsy. Before using your medicine she had 
severe fits every mouth regularly. 

JAMES H. MILES. 

This is to certify that I am well acquainted with J. H. Miles, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 243 

that he signed the above in my presence, and that he is a man 
of truth and veracity, 

W. BLANKINSHOSS, 

Justice of the Peace. 

THE FOUR REMEDIES. 

Butler, Butler Co., Pa., Sept. 15, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Dear Sir. — I have been troubled with a cough 
and weakness in my back for over two ye*irs, and often have a 
severe pain in my head and between my shoulders. lam also 
troubled with night sweats and chilliness through the day. The 
medicine I have been taking has been of very little benefit to 
me, until I got yours by the advice of a friend. Please send 
two bottles of your " Acacian Balsam," and likewise a pot 
of " Etherial Ointment," and a box of 4 * Renovating Pills." 
MRS. ELEANOR M. HUTCHISON. 
Added to this is the following :— 

Dear Dr. — Will you please favor me with another 
bottle of your M Magic A^similant." I used one bottle, and I 
think lam perfectly cured of dyspepsia ; but thinking it might 
come back, I thought it would not be amiss to have a bottle 
in the house. 1 also wish a box of your '■ Renovating Pills." 
You will please send the medicines all in my name. 

JOHN HUTCHISON. 

CONFIRMED CONSUMPTION CURED. 

Bryantsburgh, Indiana, July 2, 1865. 
Dr. O. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — Before I got your " Acacian Balsam," I was 
so far gone that my voice had failed entirely, my muscular 
system had, as I may say, " disappeared," and I had for three 
months been unable to leave my room. During that time I 
had sinking spells, which made it seem that life had jrone. I 
also, on some occasions, coughed up matter that looked as if it 
was mixed with brick-dust, and at other times ejected black 
blood and matter of the most alarming appearance. Although 
I have been out of the " Acacian Balsam" for two weeks, yet 
that which I have taken has so far restored me that I am able 



244 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

to do ranch work on my farm. I believe your medicines surpass 
all the wonders of the present age. Send me some more at 
once. 

THOMPSON RABTJRN. 

FITS AND DYSPEPSIA. 

Rolla, Missouri, Sept. 4, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I am happy to inform you that I have seen 
many cures accomplished by yonr "Renovating Pills" and 
" Ma^ic Assimilant," in cases which had baffled the skill of 
our most eminent physicians, and I take pleasure in recom- 
mending them to the afflicted public. I think when the virtues 
of your valuable remedies become hotter known, you will have a 
large call for them in this place and state. 

JAMES A. GREEN, Agent. 

WONDERFUL CURE OF CROUP. 

Rutland, Vermont, May 23, 1865 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I have used your il Etherial Ointment" for 
the croup, and find it surpasses any thing we ever bought be- 
fore. I have also used your " Renovating Pills" and " Acacian 
Balsam" with good effect. 

M. A. MEAD. 



INFANTILE SPASMS. 

Davidsville, Pa., July 15, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Dear Sir. — The sister of one of our firm procured 
one bottle of your "Magic Assimilant" for her child when it had 
hard and continuous spasms, and she only gave one ha f and it 
has never had one since. Send some of your "Balsam." 

PARR & SAWYER. 

DYSPEPSIA RELEIVED. 

Ridott, July 1, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I received three bottles of your "Vervain Ma 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 245 

pic Assimilant" and commenced usinpr.it, and I have now used up 
the last bottle, and I am so much healthier now than I was when 
I commenced using jour medicine that I have concluded to 
send and get three bottles more. I was so affected with sour 
stomach and spitting up of food after eating, that it caused a 
disease in my throat which w?is very severe at times; my nerves 
are much stronger and I am able to work considerable. 

D. T. McKIBBEK 
Ridott, Stephenson Co, Illinois. 



DISEASE OF THE WOMB. 

St. Louis Co., Missouri, June 23, 1865. 
Dn. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — Mrs. Burness, after consulting everybody of 
medical note in the city of Sg. Louis, has been cured of disease 
of the womb of long standing, by the use of your "Etheritd 
Ointment." May God bless you in all your endeavors to do 
good. 

J. B. COLEMAN. 

IRREGULARITY OF THE BOWELS. 

Elkader, Dayton, Iowa, March 16, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I have received so much benefit from the one 
box of 3 r our pills that 1 am convinced thai they will do all, and 
evea more than they are recommended to do. 

Yours respectfully. 

JOSIAH ADAMS. 

MAGIC ASSIMILANT MADE FROM RECIPE. 

Rockford, Indiana, Feb. 1, 1864. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir : — I procured the herbs prescribed in your trea- 
tise for the " Magic Assimilant '* and made some for my little 
daughter. She had not taken it a fortnight before her genorl 
health \v s better than it had been for six months before, and 
she is cured of Jits. 1 am also cine I of Dyspepsia by thes me 
means. 1 nave found that I cannot atford to make your medicines 
in small quantities as cheap as you sell them. You will therefore 



246 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

send me three bottles of " Assimilant" six bottles of " Acacian 
Balsam/ 7 twelve boxes of your " Renovating Pills," and twelve 
pots of your " Etherial Ointment," all of which I intend to use 
among mv afflicted neighbors. 

G. W. SWEENEY. 



DROPSY BANISHED. 

Albany, N. Y. March 16, 1865 

Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — You will remember that I wro'e you about 
three months ago an account of my case of general dropsy. I 
had suffered for five years with this complaint, had been tapped 
twice, and had swallowed more than fifty different prescriptions 
and preparations to no purpose, when I was advised to apply 
to you! I did, having great faith in herbal preparations, 
and the result of the preparations you made is a complete cure. 
How can I ever thank you sufficiently, etc., etc. 

GEORGE WHITE. 

Remarks. — This patient sent me a full description of his 
case, which answered my purpose as well as if I had seen him. 
My course was to banish the cause of the disease, which was chief- 
ly defective and sluggish circulation of blood, get rid of the accu- 
mulated water, prevent a recurrence of the cause, and build up and 
restore the exhausted system to a natural condition of strength 
and elasticity. For this purpose I made, as the case was a most 
peculiar one, a preparation of rheumatism root, (pages 133 
and 134 ), large flowering spurge, ( pages 93 and 94 ), fig- 
wort, (page 76), and robins' rye, (pages 135 and 136), 
together with two very rare foreign plants, and sent this, with 
the "Renovating Pills, 7 ' and the "Acacian Balsam" with proper 
instructions as to using. The first preparation took hold of ilu 
cause and the main effect at once, where all the ordinary pre- 
scriptions had failed ; the " Pills" were used constantly to keep 
the bowels in a condition of great regularity, and of necessary 
freedom of action, and the " Balsam" was given to soothe and 
allay inflammation, (which had commenced) and give streugtli 
and renewed flesh. 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 247 

PECULIAR CASE OP CONSUMPTION. 

Philadelphia, July 4, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown 1 : — 

Sir — Thanks to you I have enjoyed the national 
celebration for the first time in four years, and gratitude impels 
me to acknowledge in this way the great and incalculable benefits 
I have received from your treatment. I am really now stronger 
and iu better health and spirits than ever I was. Indeed I know 
I am well. Who would have thought five months ago that 1 
would have lived to see this day, and have been able to join in 
its celebration ? Wherever I may see sick friends I will assur- 
edly advise them to call, or send to you. 

SARAH E. HOPKINS. 

Remarks. — This case had been pronounced " confirmed'' 
consumption, and so it was ; but not of the kind usually devel- 
oped. There was but little cough, and scarcely any expecto- 
ration ; but there was the usual evidence of torpid constitution, 
enlarged and iuflamed tonsils ; also frequent pains in the chest, 
and in the region of the stomach and liver. From her own 
account and from her mother, I learned that her whole system 
was deranged, every organ neglecting to perform more than 
half its functions. I ordered " Etherial Ointment" to be rub- 
bed over the chest and back, morning and night, which at once 
removed the acute pains, the " Renovating Pill" to be given, 
as a Regulator, one upon going to bed, and the " Acacian 
Balsam" to be daily taken according to the directions on the 
lable, with a warm bath every other day. The diet was to be 
very plain, consisting mainly of farinaceous preparations, broths, 
and seasonable ripe fruits ; also good toast bread, and milk as a 
beverage instead of tea and coffee. In about two weeks she 
began to gain flesh and was able to go out. I ordered the 
above treatment continued, but added instructions for the pa- 
tient to take a ride, a sail, or a short walk every clear day. I 
was obeyed. She tell? the result. The disease was consump- 
tion of that class which does not consume the body gradually 
through the lungs ; but which attacks and wastes every part of 



248 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

the adult human frame at once. In infants it is called 
marasmus. 



GRAVEL. 

St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 10, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — I do not think that I require any more medicine. 
Your treatment has entirely cured me of the gravel, for my gene- 
ral health is excellent, and I urinate as often as health calls for, 
only, and have no pain, neither is there any deposit whatever., 
In short all appearances of the disease have gone. I weigh one 
third more than I did when you began with me. Accept my 
thanks, etc. JEREMIAH HALL. * 

Remarks. — This was a case of red gravt.l, which is much 
more difficult of cure than the ordiuary white gravel. He 
had taken mineral medicines usually given in such cases during 
a period of twelve years; but grew worse and worse until he 
was in constant pain, debilitated to the last degree, and the 
bladder became ulcerated, discharging pus-like matter. I 
ordered him the proper doses of a preparation, of which "bird's 
foot" (see page 46 ) and some of the powerful extracts from 
the sen-weeds, were ingredients ; prescribed. the " Etherial Oint- 
ment" (sec page 297) to be applied freely to the painful regions, 
or parts ; and directed the " Renovating Pill" to be used 
according to instructions on the lable. I forbade him to use 
acids or acescent food, and denied him the use of heavy bread, 
fatty matter, pastry or hard-boiled puddings, ardent spirits and 
wines. I allowed him a moderate quantity of fresh lean animal 
food, blackberry-jam to be used on light stale bread instead of 
butter, and soda water for a common beverage. He also took, 
by my desire, considerable exercise in the open air. The result 
was all I could desire. With the exception of the Hygienic 
principles, however, hardly any two cases of gravel can be suc- 
cessfully treated exactly alike. I make preparations for all its 
forms. 



Ttffc COMPLETE HERBALIST. 249 

CONSUMPTION. 

Cart/ton, Orleans Co., N. Y., July 10, 18G4. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown :— 

Sir. — After taking a little of yonr "Acncian Balsam'* 
Mis. Griffin is better* — she sits up all day-— and rides out oce ;sion. 
ally. r lhe soreness has gone from her lungs and she coughs 
very seldom, unless, in consequence of some fresh cold. Now and 
then there is some shortness of breath, and wheezing, but no com- 
parison to what has past, or in times past. It h is been the gene- 
ral impression here that she had the consumption and would die, 
and the physician said he d d not believe she would live tiil spring. 
Once we called in the neighbors to see her die. And persons 
who saw her in her feebleness, and behold her now, will scarcely 
credit their own eves. 

P. GRIFFIN. 

YOUTHFUL ERRORS. 

Utica, N. Y., May 30, 1865. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown • — 

Dear Friend. — Mr. G , whose case of sexual 

debility, mental weakness, and extreme emaciation, caused by 
solitary habits, you undertook at my request, four months since, 
after many well-known physicians had declared that medical skill 
could "do nothing for him, "is a new man. His intimate friends 
can hardly believe him to be the same person. When he com- 
menced your course of medicine he weighed but ninety-five 
pounds, now he weighs 135 pounds. The joy of his parents is i n- 
bounded. I ?end you an account of two oilier case?, which, 
although the results of the same cause, are not like Mr. G's. I 
am certain you can cure them, or any other case of nervous 
affliction, or general weakuess. 

ERASTTTS THOMPSON. 

Remarks. — In this case I used a preparation of coca, (page 
59) dragon root, (page 69) eryngo, (page 72) and other herbal 
tonic and invigorating remedies of foreign growth which are 
especially adapted to such cases. In addition, I required the 
patient to avoid the use of all exciting foods and drinks; but. 
to live freely on plain nourishment ; to use a cold sponge bath 
containing a table-spoonful of mustard, twice a week, until 

11* 



250 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

stronger, and then every day ; to keep the bowels moving regu* 
larly with the " Renovating Pill," and to avoid solitude, and 
court cheerful, and lively society as much as possible* The 
consequence of this treatment is before the reader* In cases of 
extreme debility of mind and body, accompanied by sperma- 
torrhoea, I use a preparation of sage (pages 131 and 138), and 
vanilla ( page 156 )» Before I could effect this cure I was 
obliged to resort to this branch of the course also ; and for the 
purpose of giving stability to the system ordered the "Acacian 
B»lsam." The " vanilla" course is a certain remedy for sper- 
matoribcoa. 



CATARRH IN THE HEAD. 

Washington, D. C. April 3, 1865* 

Dn. O. Phelps Brown :-— 

Respected Sir. — My catarrh, which had almost 
destroyed my power of speech, had nearly lost me the senses 
of smell and taste, and was rapidly extending to the lungs, by 
dropping down, has disappeared. I owe this great blessing to 
your course of treatment. I had been so often humbugged by 
those who made great pretensions of curing me, and to whom I 
had paid large sums of money, that I applied to you by advice 
of acquaintances, with many doubts ; but a " drowning man 
catches at a straw" and I wrote you a full description of my 
sufferings* I cannot be too grateful to Providence for having 
directed me to do this* Use my name in any way you please 
for the benefit of others afflicted as I was, etc. 

S. BROWN MILLS. 

Remarks. — This patient describes the effects of nasal 
catarrah, as developed in himself, but partially He has omit- 
ted to say that his breath was so offensive that people could 
not sit in the room with him ; that the matter was discharged 
so copiously that it descended into the stomach, causing vomit- 
ing, reducing him in strength and flesh to a comparative skele- 
ton; that he had inflammation and elongation of the soft palate; 
(uvula) had lost his appetite; and was troubled with hectic 
fever. The great object to achieve in a case like this is first to 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 251 

cleanse the parts affected and then to heal them. Great atten- 
tion must also be paid to the general health which nasal catarrh 
even in its mild forms deranges so effectually. My instructions 
to Mr. Mills were to make use principally of light vegetable 
food ; with now and then chicken or mutton broth ; to bathe 
the feet each night in warm water, and upon going to bed, to 
keep the bowels open with the "Renovating Pill," to wear flannels 
next the entire surface of the body, and to use the " Etherial 
Ointment" plentifully at night upon the forehead, rubbing it 
genJy and yet persistently in I forbade the use of water in- 
ternally, and prescribed toast tea or warm lemonade as a beve- 
rage. The main point of treatment was the beginning of the 
course I usually adopt for this disease, viz., a solution (with 
other rare herbal solutions) of narrow leaf Virginia thyme 
(pages lOt and 108,) which can be used either as an injection 
for the nostrils with a syringe, or it may be, as the phrase goes, 
u snuffed up" with force from the hollow of the hand. Whe& 
this had produced the desired effect, I prescribed the second 
series of the course, viz., a solution of English Daisy Root, and 
other foreign roots, with herbs, (to be used as above) and a 
certain healing powder, both to be applied through the nostrils 
as often as circumstances required. I have never failed with 
this treatment. Mr. Mills' catarrh was a desperate and deep 
seated affair — in fact I have never known of a worse case; I 
can usually perfect a cure with the English Daisy Root pre- 
paration and the healing powder, where absolute rotteness has 
not been developed, as in the case of this patient. 



CASES OP LEUCORRHCEA, OR "WHITES." 

Northampton, Mass., Dec. 10, 1864. 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Dear Friend -—I am not much of a writer ; but I 
wish to say to you that your advice and medicines have made 
me well, and that I do not fear a return of the distressing and 
loathsome complaint which had held me in its gripe for three 
years, and which was rapidly bearing me to au early grave. I 



252 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

write this with my husband's consent. I have no false modesty, 
and do not care who reads this if it will induce them to be wise 
and try your remedies, etc. 

MRS. JULIA BARTON. 

Remarks. — Before coming to the treatment adopted in the 
above case let me state, for the benefit of many persons igno- 
rant of the tact, that no two cases of '•whites' 7 are exactly alike; 
aud that the term "whites" is employed, to spec fy all variations 
of the disease, from custom, end because it is convenient. There 
are four kinds of discharges in this very prevalent affliction, viz ; 
mucous, pus, mucous and pus combined, and a clear transparent 
secretion, which, when coagulated, looks like curdled milk. 
When thin and watery, or thick aud cream like, it is from the 
passage which leads to the womb, or as it is technically called 
•' the vagina ;" bringing away patches and shreds of the mem* 
brane or lining of the passage, and causing the utmost distress 
and debility, both of mind and body. When it is ropy or gluey 
it is from the cavity of the neck of the womb, and if not soon 
checked, and the parts restored to a healthy condition, will re- 
suit in ulceration, which, after infl'cting numerous and prolong* 
ed agonies, ends in a painful death. It is also frequently the 
cause of falling of the womb, and there is no doubt that cancer 
in the womb, is, in a majority of cases the result of iis ravages. 
There are many variations of whites, whether it be confined to 
the vagina or has extended to the neck of the womb. So there 
is a great differencd in the color of the discharge, it being 
green, dark brown, yellow, or clear and white, as the age, siz?, 
condition etc., of the victim varies, or according to cause, pro- 
gress aud duration. It is essential that the physician should he 
acquainted with these particulars, and that he should carefully 
aud minutely consider the age, habits, occupation, social stand- 
ing, and temperament of the patient before prescribing. The 
causes of this disease are as Various as the forms it tikes. 
Among them are excessive indulgence in sexual intercourse, 
cold, gonorrheal virus, much stimulating food, giving way cou- 
tiuually to morbid and depressing fancies, solitary enjoyments, 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST- 253 

child-bearing, long continuation of the monthly flow, nursin<r, 
decline of life, great fatigue, such as frequently running up and 
cown stairs, straining, indigestion, or too much confinement in 
impure air, and too little rational exercise, miscarriages, intem- 
perance, etc. Sometimes neglect of the person, or uncleauliness, 
is a cause. L idies of very delicate organization, and those who 
are scrofulous or consumptive, are liable to it. Among the 
many symptoms of whir.es, are a pale, sallow or waxy complex- 
ion, which is occasionally altered by heavy flushings only to 
become more ghastly after they disappear. Also dull eyes, 
with heavy dark crescents underneath, capricious appetite, or 
scarcely any appetite, foetid breath, nausea, distress in the 
stomach, pains in the back, loins, groin, and chest ; suffering iu 
walking, headache, chills, restlessness at night, frightful dreams, 
disordered stomich, extreme nervous and muscular weakness, 
great emaciation, ill temper, disinclination for the other sex, etc. 
Not the least unpleasant effect of this disease is the smell it 
emits. To treat it with mineral preparations is merely to palli- 
ate it and produce other afflictions. Wi y use dangerous arti- 
cles when the earth abounds with herbal remedies which are 
both healing and soothing, powerful and harmless, and which if 
rightly prepared by experienced physicians, who understand 
the mediciual properties of the vegetable kingdom, and used ac- 
cording to directions, must satisfactorily cure without leaving 
evils of any other kind behind them ? Among the many plants 
and barks wHch skillfully and intelligently compounded with 
others which have to be imported, and their virtues extracted 
by a process known only to those who have made them a life 
study, will surely and quickly cure this diseases in all its vari- 
eties, are " Devil's Bit" (pages 67 and 68) "Balsam ot Peru? 
(pages 122 and 123) " Life Root" and " Meadow Lily Root," 
(lor both see pages 97 and 98,) "Privet" (pages 125 and 126) 
"White Oak Bark" (page 112) " Golden Seal" (page SI) etc. 
These are the principals of numerous well-known plants and barks 
employed by me lor leucorrhoea, to give the names of all t at 1 
employ, especially those of foreign origin, would occupy moie 



254 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

space than I can spare, and would not benefit the reader, for 
the foreign ones can be procured only at great expense, in large 
quantities, and in out-of the*way localities. From Mrs Bar* 
ton's copious description of herself and her symptoms, I was 
satisfied, after due deliberation, that the disease had reached 
the neck of the womb, and that if she did not at once obtain 
relief, ulceration would be the inevitable consequence. She 
was of a medium size, light complexion, hair and eyes, sanguine 
and lymphatic temperament, and was afflicted soon after mar- 
riage. She had been what is called a " wild" girl; that is, fond 
of romping and playing, but was always, from the age of puber- 
ty, more or less subject to an overflow of the menses, by which 
her frame had become somewhat enfeebled. I pass over the 
certainty of the M parts" having being injured during coition. 
I prescribed a wash made from some of the above plants and 
barks, and which I call the " Privet Wash," to be injected 
freely morning and night. In order to achieve the great ob- 
ject of restoration it is necessary to treat the disease generally 
as well as locally. I therefore ordered three of my Extra 
Tonic Pills to be taken each d?iy, one before each meal. I also 
enjoined, for a time, strict abstinence from nuptial indulgences, 
and three tepid hip baths a week to begin with, gradually 
reaching the cold ones. The hygienic treatment was simple, viz: 
"—moderate exercise out of doors in clear weather, light animal 
and vegetable food easy of digestion — nourishing but not siimu* 
lating\ scrupulous cleanliness, and the cultivation of a cheerful 
spirit. This treatment, carefully observed, effected a permanent 
cure in three months. I would take occasion to say here, that 
in all cases of whites the most rigid system of cleanliness is in- 
dispensible to a speedy cure. For merely cleansing the parts 
pure cold, or tepid water, as the case may require, to which has 
been added a little salt, is excellent. 



Bangor, Me., Jan. 5, 1865. 
Dr. O. Phelps Brown : — 

Honored Sir.— Permit me on behalf of my daugh* 



THE COMPLETE HEIlBALTST* 255 

ter and her father, to return you our sincere thanks for the ad- 
vice given in your last letter, and to state that we shall always 
treasure it, and act upon it too, if it ever becomes necessary. 
But at present we have no occasion to use it. Our daughter is 
cured. Perhaps this will not surprise you ; but it lias surpris- 
ed us, and has shed the rays of happiness over a household that 
was before sorrowful and miserable indeed. If by referring 
persons to us who are suffering as our daughter did, you can do 
good, have no hesitation about it. * * * Mrs. Grove is pro- 
gressing finely under your medicines. 

MRS. H. BETHMAUN. 

Remaiiks.— This was a case of vaginal whites, which had ex- 
isted from the time the patient had commenced to menstruate. 
She was a girl of robust habit, with full bosom, when first at- 
tacked ; but was eventually reduced to a shadow of her former 
self, The causes of her affliction I need not specify. When 
she first applied to me for aid it was with great difficulty she 
could retain anything on her stomach, and nearly all the symp* 
toms enumerated under Mrs. Barton's case were torturing her con- 
stantly. Urination was so painful that her cries could be heard 
at some distance. It was iound requisite to change her under 
garments twice or thrice a day. Unskilful and reckless treat- 
ment had done much towards aggravating her miseries and ren- 
dering a cure a matter of the utmost difficulty, yet I was de- 
termined to take the matter in hand and make handsome work 
of it. My first care was to impress forcibly the utter impos- 
sibility of effecting a cure if all natural or unnatural excite- 
ments of the organs of generation were not totally avoided* 
The usual light but nutritious diet was ordered, also plenty of 
fresh air and sunshine, moderate and pleasurable exercise, cheer- 
ful associations, etc* I insisted upon total abstinence from all 
exciting liquids, and the abandonment of any course of roman- 
tic reading that would be likely to stimulate the imagination* 
I prescribed the cold hip bath to be taken every day, and an 
injection made from "Golden Seal," "Life Root," "Lily Root," 
and two South American plants to be used freety three times 
a day. For ablutionary purposes she used tepid or cold water 



256 ME COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

with a very little salt, according to the intensity of the inflam- 
mation or irritation. Instead of blisters, or issues, to the lower 
part of the back {Sacrum) I applied the "Etherial Ointment" 
freely, keeping" it constantly there, in fact, in the form of a plas- 
ter. As she was badly constipated I used the " Regulat- 
ing Pili" according to directions. Wi:h the exception of a 
slight relapse produced by one night's unwise exposure to damp 
air, and a very fatiguing walk, this case progressed steadily to 
a cure from the first day my treatment was adopted until I re- 
ceived the above letter announcing the patient's thorough and 
perfect restoration to unblemished health. 

The above two cases are but types of hundreds, to cure 
which my services have been required, and usually at the last 
moment. I have cured many variations from these two ca-es, 
all bad enough, and have testimony to that effect; but the 
above will be quite sufficient to show to the impartial reader 
both the method and value of my Herbal system 1 The above 
certificate would not have been published without the permission 
of the writers, as I hold sacred all correspondence of this 
character. 

BAD CASE OF LIFE-LONG SCROFULA CURED. 

Providence, R. I., August 4, 1865. 
Dr. O. Phelps Brown : — 

My Dear Dcctor — ****** words cnnot 
express my delight t the cure you have effected upon me. You 
know what a condition I was in when I wrote to you last win- 
ter ; I was covered from head to foot with sores, and as I had 
been more or less a sufferer in this way from childhood, and had 
spent thousands of dollars in the hope of getting, at le s*, a 
partial, if not a perfect cure, witho.it success, I had but 1 ale 
faith in your ability to do me much good. Still, you had been 
so highly recommended that I concluded to make one more 
trial, and if that did not turn out as was desirable, to bear my 
wretched late with philosophy until I could Hide my di.-ti^uic.l 
form iu tite grave. 1 may say, that now, for the lirst time in 
my life, I have an unblemished skin; apparently a pure current 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 257 

of blood in my veins, and the very best of general health. I 
owe this to you, or, more properly speaking*, to your skill and 
ability and the plants which nature has provided for every phy- 
sical ill. Should you ever come this way, you will confer a 
favor upon me by giving me a call. You may publish the fact 
of my cure if you like ; but I prefer that you would keep my 
residence out of print, as I do not wish to be troubled with 
inquiries, etc. 

J. R. M. DRAKE. 
Remarks.— Scrofula is both hereditary and acquired. It 
attacks all parts of the body; but more especially the glands, 
bones, joints, and skin. When transmitted it is more difficult 
of treatment thin when acqui ed : but in either event it is 
certainly curable. Consumption is the worst phase of scrofula, 
and generally the most fatal. Yet we can now not only avert 
consumption by timely and judicious treatment, but can cure 
it even afte r it has reached a stage which many years ago was 
sure to result fatally. The chief causes of scrofula, (apart from 
certain poisonous communications between healthy and infected 
persons which my treatment will positively cure in all its forms,) 
are insufficient food, the habitual breathing* of foul air, exposure, 
intemperance, unclean habits, constitutionally-weak stomach ; 
living too high, lack of exercise, or too much of it, etc. The 
basis of scrofula, in all its varied hideousness, is, no matter what 
may be the fundamental reason, impurity of the blood. In 
the case before referred to, the disease was undoubtedly heredi- 
tary ; although the parents had never had a touch of it ; but 
upon inquiry I ascertained that the grandfather on the side of 
the mother had been more or less troubled with it all his life. 
This is oiten the action of scrofula. It may fail to appear du- 
ring one or two generations, and then again break out with 
extraordinary virulance in a distant branch of the original 
family, particularly if there be any syphilitic taint. Mr. Drake 
describes bis condition as it was when he first wrote to me, in 
broad but expressive terras — he was literally "covered with 
soies from bead to foot." His appetite had gone, his strength 

I was scarcely beyond that of an infant, he could sleep but very 



258 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

little, nor could he walk, or talk, excepting with great pain, and 
as he said in a previous letter, he presented such a shocking 
appearance that " he was ashamed to show himself abroad," 
even if able to do so. In short, he was on the verge of disso- 
lution — in fact, that without a prospect of recovery, speedy 
death would have been a boon. I ordered my compound fluid 
extract of stillingia, which is •<* preparation comparatively new ; 
but which will soon usurp the place of all other medicines for 
scrofula, hepatic and cutaneous affections, and all impurities of 
the blood, and a tonic pill made particularly to suit the indi- 
vidual case. The patient was advised to shun crowded or close 
apartments, to avoid exposure to wet or humid weather, to 
sleep with the windows open at all times, but out of the way 
of the draught ; and to bathe daily in warm water and alco- 
hol, or in salt water if he preferred it ; but neve, in plain, 
fresh, or cold water. His diet was as invigorating as 
possible, — light, nourishing, and digestible, but never stimula- 
ting — consisting in the main of broth, solid lean meats, aud stale 
bread — pastries, pies, and puddings being interdicted. Fish, 
especially the fresh cod, he was ordered to eat as often as was 
agreeable, for its iodine, as well as its nutriment. I sent Mr. 
Drake his first instalment of " the compound fluid extract of 
etillingia," and the tonic pill, with hygienic instructions, in the 
latter part ot February. In the middle of March he was out, 
with a fair appetite, a moderate degree of strength, and a visi- 
ble improvement in the strumous inflammation and discbarge. 
He improved slowly hut surely, and was pronounced cured by 
his friends, as early as June ; but as doing things by halves is 
not my way, I continued treatment until August, when every 
vestige of the disease had, as near as I could judge, vanished, 
I am sure, never to return, unless through his own neglect and 
imprudence. The "stillingia" is the foundation of all my pre- 
parations for scrofula, (see " queen's root," page 128) but it is 
embodied with several other rare plants and roots, according to 
the cause, location, or extent of the disease. Where it mani- 
fests itself in the glands, joiuts, or upon any part of the surface 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 259 

of the body, in sores, rashes, or ulcers, I invariably prescribe 
the " Etherial Ointment" as an assistant whose services could 
not be dispensed with. 

OBSTINATE NEURALGIA CURED 

Alexandria, Va., Jan. x2, 1865. 

Dr. 0. Phelps Brown : — 

Doctor. — I have the honor to inform yon that your 
medicines have had all the effect you promised. My neuralgic 
pd.is and symptoms disappeared three weeks after I began 
asiiigj your "Lever Wood" prepnration, and the ointment, but 
I refrained from writing to you for many weeks afterwards 
fearing that the relief was only temporary. I am now sure, 
however, that the cure is permanent, for since the pdns ceased 
I have been constantly exposed to the weather, braving it in 
ail Is changes — have been out in storms, li >ve been shut up in 
clo*e places, and then suddenly sent forth in the bitter cold, 
and yet not the slightest approach to neuralgia has been visi- 
visible in the operations of ray nervous system. I have a sis- 
ter in Vermont who suffers severely every winter from neural- 
gia of the face. I enclose ten dollars, for which, send to her 
address as much of your medicine and advice as you can afford. 

L. J. McGOxMAS. 

Remarks.. — Mr. McComas was employed in one of the pub- 
lic departments, whose head-quarters were in Alexandria, Va., 
and was liable to be exposed at all hours to the weather, no 
matter how bad it might be. He was frequently compelled to 
lodge upon the ground, and sometimes could get no food for 
many hours, and when he did get it he was often compelled to 
eat it half cooked and in haste. He appears to have been con- 
stitutionally predisposed to diseases of the nervous system, and 
although only twenty-two years of age, had suffered extreme tor- 
tures from neuralgia. The pain occurred by jerks and starts, 
commencing at the back of the neck generally, running round 
to the ears and the jaws, and spreadiog over the entire face, 
as also in most instances the shoulders and chest. I ordered 
the "Lever Wood" preparation, (page 97,) which comprises 



260 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

the extract of five different rare herbs, and the " Regulating 
Pill" one a day at going to bed, and required that the "Ethe- 
rial Ointment" should be liberally used upon the affected parts 
morning and night. All forms of neuralgia may be cured by 
this treatment, if, in addition to the medicines, the patient will 
keep his stomach in good order, and use tepid baths in mode- 
ration. 



REMEDY FOR GOUT. 

Germantown, Penna., Aprtl 2, 1865. 
Dr. C Phelps Brown : — 

Sir. — -You merit all the gratitude I have to £ive. 
Shall I say that you have cured me of gout ? Yes, I think I 
may safely say so, lor I have been free from it one year fur the 
first time in twenty-five years, and all since I begin to take 
your remedies. I am now fifty-three years of age und am in 
the enjoyment of better health than has been my good luck for 
a quarter of a century. My children say that it is now a plea- 
sure to spend an evening with me, whereas, before obtaining 
your godsend, it was their opinion that I was a most irritable 
and disagreeable companion. I would like to have a large 
number of your treatise for distribution. What will be the 
cost, etc., etc. 

WM. RODMAN. 

Remarks. — Gout is always accompanied by disarrangement 
of the regular functions of the stomach and other inernai or- 
gans. In either the acute or chronic stage it is indicated by 
the usual violent pain in the ball or first joint of the big toe, 
with shooting pains throughout the foot ; sometimes every toe 
is involved. When the att ;cks have been frequent and of long 
standing, it in many instances falls into the stomach, when mor- 
tal skill is hardly equal to the salvation of the sufferer. This is 
when the patient has become very much reduced. If stout or 
fat, the disease after having been allowed its own way for a long 
time, usually falls into the head, and then proves fatal as often 
it does when located in the digestive regions. Gout is heredi- 
tary, but, even when it is so, can be averted by prudent living. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 261 

Its causes are numerous, nmong which may be enumerated ex- 
cess in eating and drinking, dyspepsia, indolence, hard and un- 
reasonable study, anxiety, despondency, excessive evacuations 
no m.;t ter of what character, cold, the suppression of any accus- 
tomed discharges, sudden exposure to cold when the body is 
heated, wet suddenly applied to warm feet, costiveness, and a 
climate to which the victim is not accustomed, especially if it 
I e variable. A great many practitioners recommend the star- 
vaiiou process ; but this is nonsense. Every man, in order to 
preserve his health, should eat and drink moderately of that 
which readily assimilates with his system; but to attempt to cure 
a man of gout, lorn with him perhaps, by feeding him on gruel 
alone, and bleeding him every now and then (such has been and 
still is the allopathic practice) is perfectly absurd. All gouty 
patients should use stimulating foods and drinks as sparingly as 
possible ; they requi e about the same diet that is enjoined for 
dyspepsia ; but to give them nothing nourishing and tasty is 
going to an extreme more dangerous than a moderate indul- 
gence in table luxuries. For Mr. Rodman, considering the 
length of time he had been afflicted, and his age (fifty-three 
years,) together with the fact that he was very corpulant, and 
disinclined to take much exercise, I prescribed, at the outset, 
a very mild regimen, gradually bringing him around to the daily 
diet that would usually be found upon the table of a prosperous 
meehauic, ignoring, by-the-way, solid fatty substances. All 
spirituous driuks, and especially fermeuted beverages, were 
ssricily prohibited. I directed cold water to be douched or 
poured from an elevation, upon the affected parts, (the disease 
was located in both feet, implicating all the smaller joints) as 
often as the shooting and " tearing" pains were made particu- 
larly manifest, and applied the " Eiherial Ointment" freely and 
continuously. The principal remedy was, of course, " Tacama- 
hac," conjoined with other herbal productions. "Tacamahac," 
in its inferior and spurious shapes is known as Popular Balsam- 
ifera ; (see pages 148 and 149) and is of little value. Tnat 



262 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST- 

which I use is from the leaf-buds of the Siberian poplor, is hard 
to be obtained, and has to be affiliated with the accompanying 
ingredients with great care and after close study of its wonder- 
ful peculiarities. As a specific for gout, (and also for rheu- 
matism of every phase, not omitting inflammatory of long stand- 
ing,) it has no equal. The proof of this is to be found in the 
above letter. 



PREVALENT DISEASES. 



THEIR SYMPTOMS, ETC. 



Typhoid Fever. — Precursory symptoms manifest them- 
selves in depression, physical langor, pains in the head, back and 
extremities ; loss of appetite, dullness and drowsiness through 
the day, and restlessness at night, violent shivering shows that 
the fever has got a fast hold. Now look soon for great heat 
of surface, furred tongue, pulse varying, heavy, sometimes as 
high as 120, headache, diarrhoea, and sometimes swelling of the 
belly, and nausea and vomiting. In a week eruptions appear 
upon the chest and belly, the tongue assumes a fiery red, or is 
dry and black, and there is delirium. There is little difference 
between this and typhus. 

Bilious Remittent Fever. — For a d \y or two before 
the onset the victim feels languor and debility, with a headache, 
want of appetite, furred tongue, very bad taste in the mouth, 
especially at day-break, pains in the joints, head, back and 
limbs, and general uneasiness. When the fever has partly "set 
in," there is a violent chill which rarely troubles the sufferer 
again. In bad cases the tongue is brown or black, dry, and 
red at the edges. The evacuations from the bowels are usually 
dark and uncommonly offensive. 

Congestive Fever. — The first attack is generally mild, 
assuming the form of intermittent fever. The second is gene- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 263 

rally very severe and dangerous. The whole surface of the 
body is very cold, the extremities especially, and the pallor of the 
face is death-like. All the appearances of drowsiness and inertia 
are painfully manifest. Breathing hurried and difficult ; tongue 
furred and black ; mind lethargic or delirious. 

Inflammatory Fever. — Sudden chills, debility, dizziness, 
pain in the head, back and joints, flushed face and eyes, dry and 
scarlet mouth, throat and tongue, great thirst, heavy throbbing 
of the arteries, hard breathing, bleeding at the nose, scanty 
urine, intense heat, and constipation of the bowels. 

Simple continued Fever. — Yawning, stretching, heavi- 
ness, inactivity, weakness, cold all over, especially in the back, 
nausea, loss of taste, hurried and oppressed breathing, rapid 
pulse, and confusion of mind, generally occasioned by a heavy 
cold. 

Putrid Fever. — Debility, depression of spirits, loss of mus- 
cular power, soreness, pain in the head, extremities and back, 
chills, inflamed eyes, dry parched tongue, laborious respiration, 
hot and offensive breath, pale urine, intense heat of the skin, 
small, quick, and hard pulse, great thirst, inarticulate speech and 
delirium. 

Scarlet Fever. — Commences with chill and shivering, 
nausea, often vomiting, heat, thirst and headache ; accelerated 
pulse, red eyes, swollen eye-lids, interrupted breathing, and 
swelling of the flesh generally. The bright scarlet eruption 
usually appears three days after the above symptoms have been 
manifested. 

Hectic Fever. — Very slow and insidious. Emaciation, quick 
pulse, slight heat after meals, to begin with. Next, frequent 
small pulse, voiding of much pale urine, debility, red spots upon 
the cheeks, night sweats, weak stomach, flatulence, indigestion, 
and great cerangement of the nervous system. 

Small Pox. — The symptoms are divided into four periods. 
The period of invasion occupies about three days, and is mark- 
ed by languor, lassitude, restlessness, stretching, gaping, petu- 



,264 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

lance, sullen mood ; these are followed by chills and rigors. 
Towards evening the skin becomes hot and dry, pain attacks 
the head, lo*s of appetite, nausea, and frequently lumbago. On 
the third day, heat, fever, flushed face, headache, and in children 
sometimes convulsions. The period of eruption commences on 
the fourth day, (often the third) with the appearance of a series 
of small, red, circular points (papulae.) They do not rise above 
the surface then, but can be seen in it, and felt by the finger. 
They are situated in the substance of the skin, and roll about 
under the finger, the size that of a small pin's head. These 
gradually enlarge, the patient in the meantime suffering severe- 
ly, until the period of suppuration arrives. Tae fever is now 
gre.t, the hands, feet and face swell, and salivation is profuse 
and constant. There is hoarseness and pain, and the saliva 
emits a most disagreeadle odor. Then comes the period of re- 
covery. The pustules scab, the fever, and other unpleasant 
symptoms gradually disappear, and, if all goes right, the dan- 
ger is over lrom the twelfth to the fifteenth day after the erup- 
tion. 

Diptheria. — After scarlet fever be careful to look for dip- 
theria. The symptoms, after scarlatina, are rigours and chills, 
debility, languor, gluey urine, a quick and jerky pulse, furred 
tongue, (light) hot, dry skin ; then comes congestion of the 
fauces, (or Lack part of the mouth and throat) thickening of the 
glands of the neck, and also symptoms similar to those of 
catarrh. This is folic wed or accompanied by a copious exuda- 
tion from the mucous surlaces, or capillaries of the upper air 
passages. Diptheritis, when not accompanied by or the result 
of scarlatina, presents similar symptoms ; the crowning one of 
which, in all cases, is the formation of a false membrane, like 
that observable in croup. In diptheria the blood becomes dis- 
organized, the muscles soft, the kidneys granulated, and the 
nervous system intensely prostrated. The stomach and liver 
are always deranged. If the disease is not promptly handled it 
is likely to terminate in suffocation, or in mortification of the 
affected parts, and death. 





4&*S 







THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 265 

Ephemera. — This is a fever which lasts but one flay. 
Symptoms, chilliness, loathing of food, hard and frequent pulse, 
hot skin, and flushed face. It subsides in a gentle perspiration. 

Yellow Fever. — The premonitory symptoms are almost 
completely identical with those of typhoid, skin hot and dry, 
face flushed, breathing hurried, eyes red and watery, with nau- 
sea and vomiting. The advance of the disease is marked by 
an aggravation of all these symptoms, while the face becomes ex- 
tremely sallow, with a harrassed and woe-begoue expression, 
and the patient is subject to great prostration of both mind and 
body. The stools are dark and foe i id. If a change is not 
speedily made the sufferer soon dies. 

Inflammation of the Brain. — Uneasiness of mind, dizzi- 
ness, inclination to fall and laiut, hard bounding pulse, poor 
appetite, wild stare of the eyes, singing in the ears, numbness 
of one side of the body, (this numbness is never on the side 
where the disease is located,) and great desire to lie upon 
the back. In the advanced stage of the disease the eye cannot 
bear light, the muscles are frequently convulsed, the mind wan- 
ders, the stomach is nauseated, and the bowels are obstinately 
costive. At this time relief must be obtained or the case will 
terminate fatally. 

Infantile Sore Mouth. — Small white specks, with dark 
rings of inflammation around them, which continue to spread 
until the whole surface of the mouth is a mass of sore. 

Nursing Sore Mouth. — Whitish small blisters on the 
salivary glands, which break, causing inflammation and ulcera- 
tion of the mucous surface. In some cases the ulcers spread to 
the aesophagus and stomach, and produce general constitu- 
tional disturbance. 

Quinsy. — Red and swollen tonsils ; great pain and difficulty 
iu swallowing, paroxysms of fever, hard and quick pulse, diffi- 
cult breathiug, mainly through the nose, chills, torpid bowels, 
watery eyes, swollen face; a thin but wicked mucous is also 

secreted and expectorated. 

12 



266 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Inflammation of the Ear, — The symptoms are mostly 
local, consisting of great pain, ringing in the ears, and fever. 

Inflammation of the Stomach. — Vomiting, extreme 
thirst, distress in the region of the heart, quick pulse, tender- 
ness of the belly, tongue dry and hard, scanty urine, constipat- 
ed bowels. The countenance looks like that of one who is very 
much tormented in mind. When the substances vomited 
appear like coffee grounds, the disease will result in death. 

Inflammation of the small Intestines. — Deep seated 
pain iu the region of the navel, and in fact throughout the 
abdomen, soreness upon pressure. Great restlessness both 
night and day. Hard pulse, dry skin, dark coated tongue, and, 
if very bad, bloated bowels and diarrhoea. 

Dysentery, — Heavy and dark brown coating of tongue ; 
variable pulse, uneasiness, soreness, and apparent heavy pres- 
sure upon the lower intestines. Constant desire to evacuate the 
bowels, hot and dry skin, and the voiding of slime mixed with 
blood. 

Bilious Colic. — Costiveness and great thirst. Violent 
pain in the belly, followed by vomiting of bile. This is almost 
continual. The patient cannot stool, even with difficulty. 
When the pain is hardest the surface of the skin is covered 
with a clammy perspiration ; the pulse hard and resisting. 

Whooping Cough. — Red face, soreness and uneasiness of 
the bronchia and throat — a long, suffocating, convulsive cough, 
marked by a peculiar sound, or M whoop" in the effort to re- 
cover easy respiration. It lasts from eight to fifteen days. The 
mucous expectoration is slight. 

Inflammation of the Liver. — Chills, succeeded by all 
the symptoms of fever. Pain, shooting and acute, in the re- 
gion of the liver ; sense of tension in the right side ; sometimes 
the pain is dull and fixed, and will extend to the breast, collar- 
bone and shoulder of the right side. In the later stages of the 
disease the cough and distress are similar to those observed in 
consumption. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 207 

Inflammation of the Kidneys. — Diill pain in the loins 
and sometimes in the thighs, heat and uneasiness in the region 
of the kidneys ; red urine, sometimes bloody, and voided fire- 
qrently, but not in large quantities at a time ; cold extremities, 
vomiting, difficulty of breathing, and constipated bowels. 

Inflammation of the Bladder. — Tension and pain in the 
bladder, great difficulty in voiding urine, with almost constaut 
desire to do so ; sometimes the suppression is total ; inability to 
have a free stool; fever, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, restless- 
ness, clammy perspirations, and in bad cases, delirium. 

Dropsy of the Brain.— Fever, similar to remittent, rest- 
lessness, thirst, vomiting, flushed face, severe pain in the region 
of the disease, and red eyes. Children afflicted in this way will 
utter the most terrific cries. The symptoms of a later stage 
are some of these, with occasional stupor, heavy breathing, slow 
and intermitting pulse, eyes insensible to light ; bowels and 
bladder discharge their contents involuntarily. 

Apoplexy.: — There are two varieties — one marked by a 
feeble pulse, and pallor, anxious and emaciated countenance ; 
(serous apoplexy) the other by a flushed face, hard full pulse, 
and sterterous breathing. r lhe approach of an attack is pre- 
ceded by giddiness, drowsiness, dull pain in the head, nightmare, 
bleeding from the nose ; loss of memory, inarticulate or hesitat- 
ing speech ; nightmare, etc. 

Hysterics. — The warning signs are generally dejection of 
spirits, stretching, yawning, nausea, anxiety of mind, sudden fits 
of weeping when there is no palpable reasou for them, palpita- 
tion of the heart, coldness of the entire surface, followed by hot 
flushes, etc. 

St. Vitus' Dance. — The approaches are slow; variable and 
voracious appetite, hard, swelled belly, or else a belly very 
flabby and soft, very great constipation of the bowels, (supposed 
by some to be the main cause of the disease,) loss of cheerful- 
ness, and twitching of the muscles against the will of u.e 
sufferer. 



268 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Croup — Ts manifested by a peculiar hoarse sound of the 
voice ; this is followed by a ringing cough, fever, hard breath- 
ing, thick expectorations, and, in the end, if relief be not obtain- 
ed, suffocation and death. 

Measles. — Preceded by sbiverings, chilliness, uneasiness, 
heaviness of mind, sore threat, swollen eyelids, inflammation of 
the eyes, acrid tears, and sneezing, with a discharge of watery 
fluid from the nose. Then come fever, dry skin, hard rasping 
cough, feelings of suffocation, great oppression, pains in the 
loins, nausea, headache, extreme thirst, foul tongue, and some- 
times profuse perspiration. The ruby eruptions, which look like 
the bites of a poisonous insect, spread over the surface of the body 
on the third, fourth, or fifth day. When the disease is extreme- 
ly virulent spasms of the limbs and twitchings of the tendons 
supervene. 

Milk Sickness. — Supposed to be communicated by milk 
taken from cows whh:h have eaten of poisonous herbage. Putrid 
tongue, very foul breath, general lassitude and debility, thirst, 
burning in the stomach, vomiting, inability to evacuate the 
bowels, etc. The cheese or butter made from this milk is more 
poisonous than the milk itself. 

Jaundice. — White, or clay colored stools, yellow skin and 
eyes, saffron colored urine, .slow pulse, or often quick and hard, 
loss of appetite, languor, indecision as how to act, a desire for 
repose, sometimes looseness, sometimes costiveness, sickness of 
the stomach, pricking and itching of the skin, despondency, bid 
and bitter taste in the mouth, indigestion, pain in the right side 
and in the region of the bowels ; sometimes the stools are very- 
dark; feverish heat and dryness of the skin. The complexion is 
the most reliable symptom. 

Wind Colic. — Peeling as if the intestines were twisted ; 
pain about the location of the navel ; violent tension of the 
Lowels, extreme anxiety, rumbling, chilliness of the skin, fre- 
quent expulsion of wind, or flutusj derangement of the functions 
of the stomach. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 269 

Incontinence of Urine.— Debility, sallow or very white 
complexion, costiveuess, occasional fever, capricious appetite, 
emaciation, languor, lassitude, and depression of spirits. The 
involuntary discharge usually occurs more frequently in the 
night than during the day. If not checked, or remedied, it will 
run into chronic diabetes. 

Nightmare. — Nightmare, which is developed in frightful 
dreams, is frequent among persons of studious and inactive 
habits. Its chief cause is indigestion and sluggish circulation of 
the blood, and the warning symptoms are mainly those of dys- 
pepsia. 

Worms. — There is the tape worm, the round long, and the 
round short worm. The symptoms are a voracious appetite, 
fainting spells, pale face, sometimes hectic flushes, itching of 
the nostrils, swollen abdomen, foul breath, peevishness, grating 
of the teeth, and sudden starts, while asleep ; great thirst at 
times, urine frothy, colic, dry cough, unequal pulse, pains in 
the side, palpitations, cold sweats, paralysation of the muscular 
system ; etc., etc. 

Carbuncle. — Commences with a small pimple, which gradu- 
ally deepens until the base becomes extremely broad ; general 
inflammation, also chills, nausea, faintings, weak pulse, and 
great lack of v.gor. It should be carefully treated when first 
discovered, particularly as a dark slough will appear on the 
centre of the tumor, which soon progresses to a condition of 
mortification. 

Rickets. — Weakness, swelling of the glands, enlargement of 
the bowels, increased size of face, flaccid muscles and soft 
tissues, bent spine, protruding forehead, small neck, decaying 
teeth, enlarged joiuts, soft and weak boues, unuatural stools, 
etc. In the woman, all these with deformity of the pelvis. 

Itch. — Shows itself first in small pimples about the fingers, 
waist, hands, and wrists; these soon break and discharge a fluid 
which causes the most intense itching ; and if not attended to 
iu the outset, will cover thee whole body and ultimately form 



270 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

small biles. Some authorities contend that the disease is en used 
by a microscopic insect, but I am induced to believe that the 
insect is the effect, not the cause of the affliction. 

Hemmorhage of the Bowels. — Preceded generally by 
dysentery ; oppression of the abdomen, furred tongue, dingy 
complexion, disorder of the circulation, impaired appetite, either 
constipation or diarrhoea, low spirits, general debility, etc., fol- 
lowed by sudden gripings, sickness of the stomach, weak pulse, 
cold extremities, ghastly paleness, and a discharge of foetid 
black blood from the bowels. If the bloody discharges are tew 
and scanty there is internal bleeding, unnaturally suppresssd 

Pleurisy, — Introduced by shiverings, which are shortly fol- 
lowed by severe fever, sharp pain, as if inflicted by a knife, in 
the side ; or in the region of the nipple, hurried breathing, dart- 
ing pain in the shouluer and back aggravated by motion ; with 
a snappish dry cough. The patient is under constant restraint, 
as every movement renders his sufferings more intense and fre- 
quent. 

Enlargement of the Air Cells. — Habitual shortness of 
breath ; great difficulty in breathing, dry cough, expectoration 
of frothy, or watery matter, and sometimes of mucus, stoop- 
ing gait, dejected and dusky countenance, enlargement of the 
muscles of the neck, swollen lips, and great debility. If 
not cured the result will be a chronic dise ise of the kidueys, or 
death by congestion of the blood vessels of the head. 

Pulmonary Apoplexy. — Tightness and dull pain in the 
chest, great difficulty in breathing, and the raising of a bloody 
mucus, which is distinguishable by the peculiar dirty appear- 
ance of the blood. 

Heart-Burn.— Gnawing and burning piin in the stomach, 
caused by acidity, and frequently afflicts pregnant women. Soda, 
magnesia, or chalk swallowed in warm water will afford imme- 
diate relief. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Bowels. — Dull pain in 
the belly which is aggravate 3> k'v pressure or emotion ; the 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 271 

tonjrue is red on the tip and borders, sometimes the abdomen is 
swollen, at other times flit ; the skin is rough and dry, small 
pulse, cold extremities, emaciation, red and scanty urine, and 
evacuations from the bowels of a peculiar slimy character, which 
occur several times a day. 

Chronic Diarrhea. — Thirst, restlessness, very poor appe- 
tite, frequent discharges from the bowels of a watery character 
in which the undigested food will be found ; yellow skin ; dry 
and dark col red tongue ; and occasionally great pain and 
griping. 

Asiatic Cholera — Three Stages. — The symptoms of the 
first stage are a slight diarrhea with vomiting, preceded by 
rumbling in the bowels, twitching of the calves of the legs, 
pain in the loins, and a very low pulse. Symptoms of the 
second stage, vomiting, purging a rice-watery fluid, cramps of 
the muscles of the limbs, bowels, and stomach, feeble pulse, dis- 
tress in the chest, hurried breathing, great thirst, internal 
burning sensation; no urine. Symptoms of the third and usually 
fatal stage, great prostration, shrinking of the skin as if it had 
been parboiled, especially of the hands and feet, bluish face, 
cold surface, sunken eyes, great thirst, and short difficult 
breathing. 

Bright's disease of the Kidneys. — Is generally symp- 
tomised by cellular dropsy which spreads over the whole body, 
commencing usually with the face ; loss of strength, pain in the 
back and loins, imperfect digestion, dry and bloodless lookiug 
skin, red, brown or dingy urine in which may be fouud albumen, 
blood, fat, mucous and salty sediments. There is also nausea, 
vomiting, giddiness, and much thirst. Costiveness and diarrhea, 
prevail by times. 

Green Sickness* — Absence of the monthly flow, pale and 
greenish-yellow skin, palpitation of the heart, capricious appetite, 
debility, headache, extreme nervousness, irregular and imperfect 
action of the bowels, throbbing of the ear and temples, sleep- 
lessness, great depression ; often violent hysterics. 



272 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Falling of the Womb. — Dull pain in the small of the 
back, dragging sensation of the groin, feeling of fullness and un- 
easiness in the vicinity of the anus. When the disease is fully 
developed the womb falls into the vagina and there is no longer 
any doubt as to the precise character of the trouble. 

Child-bed Fever. — Chills, heat and dryness of (surface, 
continually increasing ; full, frequent, and strong pulse, great 
thirst, restlessness, dry red-edged tongue, sickness of the stomach 
and vomiting, and very quick, short breathing. The eyes are 
red, and the face much flushed. The pain in the belly is in- 
tense, and the least motion produces exqukite torture. 

Cancer of the Eye. — Preceded by headache, great sensi- 
tivevess to light, uncommon heat of the organ, itching of the 
ball and lids, and very sharp shooting pains, and a sensation of 
pricking. The eye enlarges and assumes a dull and livid hue. 
The cornea ulcerates and bursts, and a fungus growth projects 
from the opening. This, if not removed and the disease extir- 
pated, will finally infect the surrounding parts and eventuate 
in death. 

Necrosis, or death of a Bone. — Commences with deep- 
seated and sharp pain, and is followed uy a rapid enlargement 
of the parts along the bone t Then we have inflammation, 
abcesses form, and the latter c"annot be healed. The old bone 
is frequently discharged by an effort of nature, and a new for- 
mation takes its place. In many cases, however, it has to be 
removed by the surgeon. 

The Plague. — The plague is a malignant fever, of a putrid 
and contagious nature. It is distinguished by buboes, or gland- 
ular swellings, extreme weakness, carbuncles, bleedings from 
the nose, anus, etc. ; diarrhea, and red, or more frequently pur- 
ple spots upon the skin. It is ushered in by great languor and 
disinclination for mental and physical exertion ; nervous disor- 
ganization, headache, giddiness, heat of skin, heavy dull eyes, 
and a total change from the natural expression of the counte- 
nance, which chauge takes different forms according to the tern* 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 273 



perament of the patient. Then we have irritable storm ch, 
great desire to urinate, torpid bowels, white and moist tongue, 
srmll, hard and quick pulse; and frequent stupor. It usually 
proves fat.nl in from one to five days if not handled skillfully 
immediately after the appearance of the premonitory symptoms. 

Chilblain,— A painful swelling* of the fingers, toes and heels, 
of a florid, deep purple, or leaden color, the result of exposure to 
cold aud damp. The pain is sometimes intermittent and pun- 
gent, obstinate itching ; the parts often ulcerate, and are then 
considered next to incurable, but they can be cured by herbal 
applications. 

Sprain. — An injury to the wrist, knees, ancles, or other 
joiuus. A sprain is not unfrequently sustained without the 
immediate knowledge of the sufferer, aud may sometimes be 
mistaken lor rheumatism. It is always accompanied by a 
painful and inflammatory swelling, and geuerally an effusion of 
serous fluid ; and sometimes the swelliug is discolored from the 
effusion of blood. 

Fever and Ague. — This is also called intermitting fever, 
from the fact that it is composed of several distinct paroxysms, 
each one of which has three separate stages. It commences 
with a feeling of languor and weakness, and a distaste for 
motion. The face and extremities are pale, the finger nails blue, 
features shrunken, and there is coldness and constriction of the 
skin, and a wasting of the body. The skin, however, is warm to 
the feeling of another person. The cold increases to severe chills 
aud rigors, in some cases becoming convulsive. Sometimes com- 
plete stupor, or an uusettled miad, will be noticed among the 
earlier symptoms. There are wandering pains over the whole 
body, the secretions are diminished, the appetite is gone, mouth 
dry, tongue very foul, pulse generally small and quick, urine 
pump-watery. These symptoms of the same stage are more 
severe in the old and weak thau in the young and robust. The 
second stage is manifest with the abatement of the chill, which 
is substituted by a violent fever, headache, thirst, difficult res- 

12* 



274 THE COMPLETE HEKBALIST. 

piration. rosy face, delirium, and excruciating pains in the 
limbs and back. After this has its run, and a profuse sweating 
occurs, the patient, although weak, irritable, pale, and disturb- 
ed in the region of the stomach, is temporarily restored to com- 
parative health. In some cases this last condition will continue 
for one day, in others two, and in others three days. 

Puerperal Convulsions. — Much like epilepsy. Preced- 
ed by more or less pulmonary symptoms; pain in the head; 
vertigo, and load and pressure in the region of the belly, and 
often nausea and vomiting ; flashes of light before the eyes, 
numbness of the limbs, etc. 

Hydatids, or bladders in the Womb — These are small 
bladders of water varying in size from that of a pea to that of 
a pigeon's egg. The symptoms are like those of early preguancy ; 
such as nausea, vomiting, enlargement of the womb, and breasts; 
suppression of the menses, and are often mistaken for those of 
genuine pregnancy. In from two to five months there is great 
pain in, and bleeding from the womb, and the hydatids are ex- 
pelled. 

Poisons. — Are divided into corrosive or acrid, the narcotic, 
and the nareotico-acrid Acrid poison, in addition to its peculiar 
taste, is symptomised by violent efforts to vomit, sharp pains in 
the intestines and stomach, peculiar sensation of heat and dry- 
ness in the mouth, and at the root of the tongue, general irrita- 
tion, intense thirst, feeling of tightness over the stomach, hic- 
cough, copious stooling with much straining, pain in the kidneys, 
cramps, tremblings, cold sweats, fainting, irregular pulse, and 
convulsions. 

Narcotic. — Inclination to sleep, torpor, numbness, cold 
greasy and offensive perspirations ; cold and stiff extremities, 
protrusion of the eyes, swollen face and neck, thick tongue, ver- 
tigo, defective eyesight, palpitation of the heart, debility, deli- 
rium, Laggard countenauce, intermitting pulse, paralysis of the 
lower limbs, swelling of the veins and body, and sometimes con- 
vulsions. 

Narcotico-Acrid. — Many of the above symptoms, together 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 275 

with extreme agitation, stupor, convulsive action of the mus- 
cles of the jaws, face, calves, etc., pain, sharp cries, vertigo, 
stiffness of the limbs, (not always,) a sort of shrinking of the 
muscles of the trunk, red staring eyes, foamy mouth, livid 
tongue and gums, nausea and vomiting, insensibility to external 
impressions, and frequent stools. 

Gangrene or Mortification. — In wounded or inflamed 
parts the pain ceases ; the matter discharged becomes acrid, 
little blisters or bubbles form and are discharged, the circula- 
tion of the blood caunot be restored to the affected part by rea- 
son of peculiar coagulation ; the patient is very calm and quiet, 
although the countenance is expressive of great care and anx- 
iety ; quick, low, and oftentimes intermitting pulse, while the 
affected surface soon melts down, as it were, into a brownish or 
blackish offensive mass. 

Acute Inflammation of the Eye. — The white of the 
eye becomes covered with blood vessels, as does also the lining 
of the eyelids. The organ feels as if it was harrassed by some 
foreign substance, and there is much heat and considerable 
darting pain experienced. There is a copious flow of tears, and 
great repugnance to light. When the disease is very violent 
tUe whole system becomes irritable and feverish. 

Pneumonia Notha. — A peculiar inflammation of the lungs, 
which is known by this name, often attacks the aged or those 
whose constitution is broken down by any cause whatever. 
The mucus, or lining membrane of the lungs is principally affect- 
ed. It commences in the same manner as catarrh ; there is 
great languor, pain in the back and head, vertigo, and listless- 
ness. Fever is not ofcen apparent. When the disease is ad- 
vanced there is difficulty of breathing, wheezing, rattling in the 
chest, and a sense of tightness about the breast. In the early 
stage the cough (which afterwards becomes violent,) is not 
severe ; it is attended by the expectoration of a white frothy 
and viscid mucus, but when the cough is most severe the char- 
acter of the sputa changes and it is darker and thicker ; some- 
times extreme stupor or drowsiness is manifested, and there is 



276 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

always pain in the head, and occasional vomiting. The disease 
terminates in a copious secretion of the mucus, which impedes 
respiration by being poured into the air cells of the lungs ; this 
must be freely expectorated or the patient will die of suffoca- 
tion. 

Hydrophobia, or result of the bite of a rabid animal, is first 
made apparent, (some time after the bite was inflicted,) by a pain- 
ful sensation in the wounded part, a desire for solitude, heaviness, 
restlessness, uneasiness, frightful dreams, disturbed sleep, spasms, 
sudden pain in the muscles, and darting acute pains from the 
bitten part to the throat; a feeling of partial suffocation, horror 
at the sight of liquids, the touch of which to the lips will pro- 
duce awful convulsions. Towards the termination of the 
disease the patient evinces great watchfulness, dislike of air and 
sunshine, and has much fever. There is also vomiting, delirium, 
hoarseness, and a continual discharge of saliva, or spittle. The 
scene generally closes on the fifth or sixth day with convulsions. 

Mumps. — This is a painful swelling (inflammatory) of the 
parotid glands, appearing behind the angle of the jaw, and often 
extending lower down. It sometimes afflicts only one side ; 
but more frequently attacks both sides. It is accompanied by 
various degrees of fever ; sometimes stupor, but as a general 
thing does not require medical aid. Tne principal treatment is 
to keep the bowels open, the head and face warm, and, above 
all, to avoid exposure to cold. When a severe cold is taken 
with mumps it will often cause in the female disorder of the 
breast, and in the male diseases and sometimes loss of testicles. 
Discharge from the Ear. — In infants or youths the dis- 
charge commences with little or no pain, the first indication 
being a slight soil upon the pillow ; in persons of mature 
growth the introduction of the end of a handkerchief will detect 
a moisture of a slight yellowish color. Then follow a very un- 
pleasant smell and a dullness of hearing. If not attended to the 
discharge becomes thick, ropy, and yellow; then thin, white 
flaky, and foetid, drenching the pillow during the sleep of the 
victim, and causing the ear to present a most repulsive appear- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 277 

ance. If the disease extends itself to the bony structure of 
the ear it will produce permanent deafness, paralysis of that 
side (or both sides) of the head, and great deterioration of the 
general health. 

Amaurosis or Nervous Blindness. — This is at first dis- 
tinguished ly a haze or net-work Lefoie the eye ; thready lines, 
or strings of globules seem moving in the air ; in rending this 
book the lines of type will appear to the victim confused and 
irregular, and there is frequently what is called double-vision. 
Spaiks, flashes, or circles of fire are seen, particularly after sun- 
set, and a rainbow colored halo is observed around an artificial 
flame or jet. There is a dull pain in the head almost continu- 
ally. It is usually brought on by overtasking the eye with work. 
Ereast Pang.— Acute constrictive pain at the lower end of 
the bieast bone ; this inclines towards the left side; it comes on 
in paroxysms accompanied by great uneasiness; it often extends 
to i he head, shoulders, arms, and legs; and is irequently sudden 
and lancinating. The countenance is livid, the extremities cold, 
urine copious and pule, feeble and inegular pulse, loss of the 
power of sense and motion, palpitation of the heart, bowels con- 
stipated ; cold sweats, etc. The disease is generally produced 
by some organic disease of the heart, but this is not always 
the cause, which seems to be constitutional and visible in a 
large head, short neck, heavy body, and natural habits of in- 
dolence. 

Cholera Morbus. — Inordinate and continued discharges 
from the stomach and bowels of a thin watery fluid, tinged with 
bile; spasmodic pains of the bowels and limbs, accelerated pulse, 
and hot skin ; chills, desire to sleep, pains in the head, vertigo, 
acid eructations, pain in the stomach, numbness of the limbs, 
and vomiting, which hardly ceases. Often the discharges fiom 
the stomach are yellow, green or blick. The evacuations of 
the bowels are characterized by the same colors. There ia 
great thirst, tension of the abdomen ; small pulse, succeeded by 
hiccough, clammy surface, delirium and death. 
Painter's Colic- — Produced by lead introduced by various 






278 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

means into the system. Preceded for some time by costive- 
ness, foul tongue, flatulence, sense of weight in the belly, taste 
os of bitter herbs in the mouth; dull and remitting pain at first; 
but this gradually becomes violent and continued. The pain is 
at first at the pit cf the stomach, but finally extends to the 
arm, navel, loins, back, rectum and bladder. The external mus- 
cles are sore to the touch : so sore in fact that they cannot 
bear the slightest weight or pressure. Nausea and vomiting 
are early symptoms and increase as the disease makes headway. 
A tenesmus accompanies which is very distressing, and often 
produces discharges of bloody mucus. The pulse is not much 
affected until the fifth or sixth day, when it becomes very quick 
aud hard. 

Nerve Pang* — This is often called tic douloureux, and is 
usually produced by indigestion, or a low state of the general 
health. It occurs generally in the nerves of the face; but often 
affects other nerves. The pain is intense and iudescribable. 
The common seats of the disease in the face are the forehead 
and temple, or fore part of the cheek. When in the forehead 
and temple, the agonizing pain darts into the eye and affects 
the whole side of the head. When in the forepart of the cheek, 
it strikes towards the mouth and nose, then backwards to the 
ear, and sometimes upwards to the forehead. Costiveness, or 
any irregularity of the bowels, with furred tongue, etc., both 
precede and accompany nerve pang. 

Jt£T For symptoms and treatment of other most prominent 
diseases read from pa^es 279 to 300, and from pages 246 to 262. 
All the diseases mentioned above can be cured by preparations 
which may be made from herbs described in this book ; but 
persons who do not wish the trouble of making them, will, in a 
majority of cases, find my four standard remedies (pages 279, 
285, 294, 297, to 300) all that can be required. Such afflic- 
tions as demand special treatment in connection with the above 
named standard remedies are few, and are described elsewhere, 
with the particular treatment adopted, the reasons for its adop* 
tions, and its results. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 279 

THE MAGIO ASSIMILANT. 



For the Perma?ie?it and Speedy Cure of Fits, Indigestion, 
Dyspepsia, Liver Complaints, Mismenstruation, etc. 



Boneset, - - 4 oz. 
Chamomile Blossoms, 2 oz. 
Smart Weed, - 3 oz. 



Blue Vervain Stalks 

and Leaves, - 1 lb 
Best Irish Whiskey, 1 gal 



Put altogether in a Tin receiver sufficiently large to hold 
about double the quantity. Arramre an arched tin cover 
with a trough encircling the entire inner edge, and of 
sufficient capacity to hold about two table-spoonsful of any 
liquid. Put the cover over the receiver, and place the 
whole over a moderately hot fire. As the steam rises it will 
form in globules on the cover, and as they increase, will 
gradually trickle down into the trough attached to the 
cover. As fast as the trough fills witli the distilled liquid, 
empty its contents into bottles and closely cork and seal 
them. Keep the vessel over the fire till the liquor has 
nearly or quite evaporated. N. B. — The best Irish Whiskey 
must be used. An inferior or adulterated article will not 
do on account of the preponderance of alcoholic properties, 
and the large amount of hurtful drugs in it. 



I cannot dwell too strongly upon the importance of a 
remedy for Fits. Who that is subject to them cm count 
with any certainty upom being alive an hour ? They may 
be taken while descending a flight of stairs, while traversing 
the bank of a precipice, while crossing a street crowded 
with vehicles drawn at full speed, or while in a throng of 
people whose feet would trample them to death. But all 
those afflicted in this terrible way are acutely alive to the 
dangers of which they are the constant expectants. Epilepsy 
in its severer forms, is a terrible disease to witness. It is 
productive of great distress and misery, and liable to termi- 
nate in worse than death ; as it is apt, in many cases to 
end in fatuity or insanity, and so carrying perpetual anxiety 



280 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

and dismay into all of those families which it has once 
visited. 

The leading symptoms of Epilepsy are, a temporary 
suspension of consciousness, with clonic spasms, recurring at 
intervals; but so various nre its forms, and so numerous its 
modications, that no general description of the disease can 
be given. I will first describe the most ordinary type of 
the disease, and then note some of the several variations 
which occur from the standard type. 

A man in the apparent enjoyment of perfect health, 
suddenly utters a loud cry, and falls instantly to the ground, 
senseless and convulsed. He strains and struggles violently. 
His breathing is embirnssed and suspended; his face is 
turgid and livid ; he foams at the mouth ; a choking sound 
is heard in his wind-pipe, and he appears to be at the 
point of death from apncei, or suspension of breath. By 
decrees, however, these alarming phenomena diminish, and 
finally cease, leaving the patient exhausted, heavy, stupid, 
comatose, or in a death-like condition. His life, however, 
is no longer threatened, and soon, to all appearances, he is 
perfectly well. Tne same train of morbid phenomena recur, 
again and again at different, and mostly at irregular inter- 
vals, perhaps through a long course of years, noiwithstand* 
ing the best medical science has been exercised to prevent 
and cure the distressing malady. This is the most ordinary 
form of Epilepsy. 

The suddenness of the attack is remakable : in an instant, 
when it is least expected by himself, or by those around 
him, in the middle of a sentence, or of a gesture, the change 
takes plice, and the unfortunate sufferer is stretched foaming, 
struggling, and insensible on the earth. 

In this country, Epilepsy is commonly called the "Falling 
Sickness" or m >ro vaguely, ^ Fits" The cry, winch is 
fitqueuily, but not always uttered, is a piercing and tenifv- 
iijg scream. Women have often been thrown into hysterics 
upon hearing it, and frequently it has caused pregnant females 






THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 281 

to miscarry. Even the lower animals are often stirtled and 
appalled by a scream so harsh and unnatural, and parrots 
and other birds have been known to drop from their perch, 
apparently frightened to death by the appalling sound. 

In most of the cases ot Fits, which have come under my 
notice and treatment, the first effect of the sptsms has been 
a twisting of the neck, the chin being raised and brought 
round by a succession of jerks towards the shoulder, while 
one side of the body is usually more strongly agita.ed than the 
other. The features are greatly distorted, the brows knit, 
the eyes sometimes quiver and roll about, sometimes are fixed 
and st » ring, and sometimes are turned up beneath the lids, 
so that the cornea cannot be seen, but leaving visible 
the white sclerotica alone; at the same time the mouth is 
twisted awry, the tongue thrust between the teeth, and 
caught by the violeut closure of the jaws, is often severely 
bitten, reddening by blood the foam which issues from the 
mouth. The hands are firmly clenched and the thumbs 
bent inwards on the palms, the arms are generally thrown 
about, striking the chest of the patient with great force. 
Sometimes he will bruise himself against surrounding objects, 
or inflict hard knocks on the friends and neighbors who 
have hastened to his assistance. It frequently happens thtt 
the urine and excrements are expelled during the violence 
of the sp;isms, and seminal emissions sometimes take 
place. The spasmodic contraction of the muscles is occasion- 
ally so powerful as to dislocate the bones to which they 
are attached. The teeth have thus been fractured, and the 
joints of the jaw and of the shoulder put out or dislocated. 

This is the most severe, yet the most common form in 
which an epileptic attack occurs. Fortunately, there is a 
large class of cases, in which the symptoms are much more 
mild. Sometimes there is no convulsion at all, or at least, 
is very slight and transient ; no tnrgescence of the face ; 
no foaming of the mouth ; no cry; but a sudden suspension 
of consciousness, a short period of insensibility, a fixed gaze, 



282 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

a totter, perhaps, a look of confusion, but the patient does 
not fall. This is but momentary. Presently consciousness 
returns, and the patient resumes the action in which he had 
been previously engaged, without always being awaro that it 
has been interrupted. 

Between these two extremes of Epilepsy, there are many 
links or grades. Sometimes the sufferer sinks or slides down 
quietly without noise ; is pale ; is not convulsed ; but is 
insensible, much like one in a state of syncope, or fainting. 

As it is impossible to give any single description of Epilepsy 
which will include all its varieties, of course, it is still more 
difficult to offer a strict definition of the disease. We can 
only say it is a mal dy that causes a sudden loss of 
sensation and consciousness, with spasmodic contraction of 
the voluntary muscles, quickly passing into violent convulsive 
distortions, attended and followed by stupor, or sleep, recur- 
ring in parox}-sms, often more or less regular. Yet all these 
circumstances my, in turn, be wanting. There may be no 
convulsion, no interruption of consciousness, no subsequent 
coma, or stupor, or even a recurrence of the attack. 

The duration of the attack is variable. They seldom 
continue longer than half an hour ; the average duration 
may be said to be from five to ten minutes. Attacks that 
spread over three or four hours, generally consist of a 
succession of paroxysm., with indistinct intervals of comatose 
exhaustion. In the long-continued fits, or in the protracted 
succession of fits, the patient often dies. 

The periods at which the paroxysms return are extremely 
variable. Most commonly they visit the sufferer at irregular 
periods of a few months or weeks; sometimes are repeated 
at intervals of a few days ; sometimes every day, or every 
night, aud very frequently, many times in the twenty-four 
hours. 

The epileptic attack may come on for the first time, at 
any age. It may begin in infancy during the first deutition, 
or teething ; more commouly about the age of seveu or eight 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 183 

years, during the time of the second dentition ; more frequently 
still, from, fourteen to sixteen, shortly before the age of puber- 
ty. It is apt to occur for a few years subsequently to this. 
The first fit may not occur till between thirty and forty ; or it 
may occur at sixty, or even at a later period of life. 

Above I have given a remedy, which will generally 
prove a simple and certain cure. You know what it is. 
You are aware that it is harmless. A fair trial will convince 
you that it is one of the most potent remedies ever discovered 
for the cure of every form of Epilepsy, Falling Sickness, or Fits. 
When this medicine is taken, the spasms gradually grow lighter 
and lighter, and finally disappear altogether, restoring the 
patient to the most perfect normal health. Its effect is truly 
wonderful. The time to accomplish a cure is usually from two 
to three months. Should you wish to have this valuable 
medicine, see the remarks at the end of this article. 

And now as to Dyspepsia ! This is a malady which 
embraces, in its symptoms and consequences, nearly every 
physical and mental torture known to mankind. It prostrates 
like Consumption, (and is often mistaken for thai disease) ; it 
unstrings the nerves, and renders its victim insane ; it deranges 
the liver, bowels, kidneys, and bladder : it poisons and 
corrupts . the blood; it vitiates the secretions; it strips the 
flesh from the bones, and if not conquered, it eventuates 
in a death involving miseries indescribable. Happiness, even 
in a modified form, is altogether incompatible with Indigestion. 

There is something so harassing in Dyspepsia — the disease is 
so eccentric and erratic — that I do not wonder the faculty have 
been so completely baffled in their attempts to gain mastery 
over it. 

The Magic Assimilant operates directly upon the stomach, 
neutralizing all undue acidity, imparting strength and effi- 
ciency to the vitiated gastric juice ; healing all inflammation 
of the coatings ; cleansing it of all foreign or morbid 
matter ; regulating its tone to accord with the best of 
health, and so bracing and invigorating it, that it cannot- 



284 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

fail of performing its functions with unfailing propriety. This 
is indeed, the most reliable cure for Indigestion, Dyspepsia, 
Liver Complaint, and all other afflictions arising from a dis- 
ordered or inert and weakened condition of the system ever 
prepared. It has been used in every part of the world, 
without once failing to effect a complete restoration to health 
aud happiness. It will eject tape-worm — one bottle having 
in several cases, dislodged and destroyed them — after they 
had attained a length of many feet. All diseases of the 
bowels, as well as the stomach, yield to the powerful yet 
pleasant influences of the Magic Assimilant, as thousands of 
people in different parts of the world are willing to testify. 
The Magic Assimilant is the only medicine ever discovered 
that will speedily and surely check, and ultimately eradicate 
entirely, Epileptic and other Fits, no matter how produced, 
or of how long standing. In three mouths it cured over 
seven hundred persons. 

There are a few more complaints which this medicine has 
complete control over, and I would not like to close this 
article without mentioning them, as it affects a large class 
of sufferers. The Magic Assimilant is a most certain cure 
for sexual debility, whether induced by excessive indulgences 
or other causes, impotence, sterility, gleet, and all diseases 
of the urinary aud procreative organs, and is equally effica- 
cious in all obstructions or irregularities, incident to the female 
system. There is no herb so well adapted to cure all sexual 
derangements as the Blue Vervain, as it produces a brisk 
circulation of the natural secretions, thereby throwing off all 
impurities and curing internal ulcerations and other morbid 
difficulties of the parts, where all other remedies fail. 

To those afflicted with any of the above complaints, 1 
confidently recommend the Magic Assimilant as a positive 
and speedy cure. Those who have tried ocher remedies iu 
vain are requested to test the truth of this assertion. Its 
beneficial effect will be apparent after a bottle or two has 
been used. The principal article in this remedy is the Blue 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 285 

Terrain, the wonderful medical virtues of which will be found 
under the heading of " Description of Plants," in another part 
of this volume. 

The reader will perceive that the Mhgic Assimilant is 
composed entirely of simple herbs, but they are none the 
less effectual ; its great power how r ever is derived from the pecu- 
liar mode of the distillation. Many of the herbs composing 
the Ac chn Balsam are of foreign growth. 

Those wlio may find any difficulty in obtaining the pure 
ingredients, can procure the medicine prepared with the 
utmost care, and of the choicest materials the world affords, 
from me. I manufacture it in large quantities (I must do 
so to meet my constantly increasing orders,) and will send it 
carefully packed, by Express, to any part of the United States, 
01: receipt of price, viz : $2 per large bottle 5 three bottles, $5; 
six bottles, $9 ; twelve bottles, $16. 

DIRECTIONS. 

Take a tea spoonful of the Magic Assimilant in a little 
water, three tunes a day, before eating. It not effectual, 
gradually increase the dose to a table-spoonful. For children 
the dose should be reduced one half. Snake it well before 
using. 



THE ACACIAN BALSAM. 



For the Speedy Relief and Permanent Cure of Consumption, 

Bronchitis, Asthma, Coughs, Colds, all Diseases of the 

Lungs, Chest or Throat, and General Debility. 



I do not propose to give a minute formu'se of all my 
remedies — the public could not expect it — for they have cost 
me years of labor, and numerous miles of travel; at the 
same time I want them to distincily know what they are 
taking, or recommended to take. The Acacian Balsam is 



286 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

composed exclusively of Herbal and Mucilaginous products, 
more powerful for good than all the mineral medicines ever 
compounded since the world began — yet as harmless for 
evil as the God of Nature who formed them. I therefore 
offer it in confidence to my afflicted fellow creatures as a 
wonderlul remedy in all pulmonary affections and kindred 
maladies, arising from an impure and exhausted state of the 
constitution. It is administered with decided success from 
the start ; soon after the patient commences its use, the 
process of invigorating and building up of the enfeebled sys- 
tem takes place. I ask no one to trust to anything here 
presented, if my remedies do not perform all I have promised 
on fair trial. 

Here I will enumerate a few of the leading and persistent 
symptoms which will be met with in all cases of Pulmonary 
Consumption or Tubercular Phthisis. To descend into the 
various, numerous, and abnormal symptoms of such a chang- 
ing and diversified disease would indeed be a work of 
supererogation, as there are no two cases of Consumption, 
which present the same symptoms. Each case differs accor- 
ding to the temperament, constitution, hereditary predisposition, 
idio+yncracy, and age of the patient. 

For the sake of convenience, I will, however, class the 
symptoms of Consumption, into four general stages, viz. the 
Incipient stage ; the Solidification stage ; the Maturation or 
Softening stage ; and the Ulceration a?id Suppuration stage. 

The first stage of Tubercular Phthisis, is generally stated to 
be that in which the physical signs indicate a deposit in the 
lungs. Evidently, however, there is, and must be an ante- 
cedent state of disordered health, before the most skilful 
observer can detect the sound which indicates the least shade 
or degree of solidification of the lungs, whether by meaus 
of the slethescope, or other methods usually resorted to by 
the profession for such purpose. When the physical signs 
are observed, the use ot the stethescope, etc., may be 
regarded as little more than professional d^play, without a 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 287 

particle of advantage, except as developing in some degree, 
the actual amount oi lesion or injury then sustained by the 
tissues of the lungs. There must be a causative agent that 
originates the predisposition or tendency to the deposit of 
tubercles in the tissues ; or which elaborates or prepares 
the material in the system from which only tubercle is formed. 
But we should not wait to see the physical signs developed, 
if we would expect uniform and hopeful treatment of Tuber* 
cular Consumption. 

From my own long experience in the speciality of Thoracic 
Diseases, I do not hesitate to say that the actual first set 
of symptoms of Consumption consists simply in the wasting 
of flesh, particularly if this is attended with, or by, a low 
scale of health and strength. Such loss of muscle plumpness, 
as well as juices and fat, is first noticed in three principal 
places. The first region of flesh consuming is usually the 
face ; the second, the hands ; the third, over the sacral or 
hip bones. The sacral region, where it first gives out, is 
lame and sore. The hands look poor and " scrawny p the 
muscles of the arras and legs are soft and flabby. 

If the face shows it first, the eyes stare ; the brow, 
temples and scalp look lean ; the muscular tissues of all the 
limbs soon waste, and the pectoral muscles, as also all the 
chest muscles waste away, and then the breathing is already 
become imperfect and weak. 

The diminished respiration is soon attended with cough; 
then pains are felt all through the breast or thorax. 

The patient next is sensible of something wrong, and is 
conscious of a sense of general debility. The fact is, nutri- 
tion is lost. The vital powers are flagging, for the wasting 
of the body in spite of eating, is more rapid than the 
repair. 

Then comes a state of spirit depression ; not the cause 
of Consumption, but caused by the already deficient vitality, 
and all the more helping on the grand catastrophe ; for it is a 
law of our being, that where nerve structure is not itself 



288 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

nourished, it, too, will fail in its work, just as surely as 
muscle fi re fails of power from the same cause. ' 

To recapitulate : 

1 — Incipient stage This may present itself at a very 
early age, or may appear in middle age, and the first 
indications are generally, a subdued and saddened feeling, 
the former bouyancy of spirits subsides, and the person 
becomes languid. The lace begins to assume a sickly hue, and 
to a practised eye tells a tale. The skin becomes whiter, and 
a nervousness and sometimes irritable disposition of mind 
appears ; and if any bint be given about Consumption threat- 
ening, the person rebels against it and will not tolerate such 
an idea. The appetite and digestion frequently become 
impaired, and may manifest itself in capricious fancies for 
certain sorts of food A slight cold or any excitement will 
bring on diarrhoea. The breath io short and the breathing hur- 
ried ; running or walking up an incline, or ascending a flight of 
stairs, is unpleasant and attended by fluttering and palpitation 
of the heart. The strength and weight of the body diminish, 
but this varies. The sleep is disturbed, the skin becomes hot, 
burnings of the palms of the hand, and cold feet ; a short, dry, 
teasing cough, or tickling, or hawking up of mucus from the 
throat appears. These is also a feeling of feverishness and 
uneasiness after meals, which are unfavorable symptoms, 
indicating the first mal assimilation of the food, which if not 
rectified, will inevitably deposit the germ of tubercles, and 
hence no time should now be lost in opposing the disease, 
before it lays seige to the citadel of the body. 

2 — Solidification. The cough which at first appeared very 
trifling, now begins to assume an anxious aspect, and becomes 
troublesome. It may not as yet be attended with expector- 
ation, and if it be, the matter expectorated is of a ropy and vis- 
cid nature. The breathing becomes more impeded ; hectic fever 
sets in, with chills and heats, while the weakness of both body and 
mind increases, although the intellect is sometimes extremely 
bright or sound to the very last. Pains, like those of pleurisy t 



r 





■*? 









THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 289 

abont the chest trouble, and are indications of those inflamma- 
tory effusions and adhesions which attest the progress of the 
disease, and the infraction of the lung structure and the impeding 
of the access of air to the cells of the lungs. The blocking 
up of the air cells, constitutes the stage of Solidification, and 
thus interferes with the due motives or fuuctions of the 
chesr, and if not arrested creates an afflux of fluid to the 
parts, thus promoting congestion and fresh deposits in the 
lungs. 

3 — Maturation and Softening. In this stage, all the 
former symptoms are aggravated, and Consumption is now 
confirmed. Fresh deposits in the lungs occur and hasten the 
maturation and softening. These local lesions, in their turn, 
react on the system at large, aggravating the general infection 
and depressing the vital powers. Hence, the advancing inertia 
of all the vital powers — the universal languor, lowering, loss 
of flesh, an J strength, and weight. The cheeks aud lips 
become blanched — painfully contrasting with the circumscribed 
hectic patch of the former. The expectoration is changed, 
and becomes more copious, opaque and viscid, more massive 
and frequently streaked with blood, or mixed with flocculent, 
wool-like, or curdy particles. It is most troublesome in the 
mornings, and when going to bed. The feverishness and gen- 
eral exhaustion increase ; restless nights, with perspirations, 
hurried breathing, change in voice, and emacia ion also increase. 
The appetite fails, either constipation or diarrhoea, more 
frequently trie latter, comes on with great increase of cough 
and vomiting after meals. If the disease advance to this 
stage, it will require much vigilance and judgment to arrest 
its progress, as the mischief iu the lungs is now very great, 
and ulcers rapidly forming, constitute what is called tubercles. 

4 — Ulceration and Suppuration, The disease now assumes 
a totally different aspect, and becomes exceeding formidable 
in its nature and results. The cough be/ornes more severe, 
and the expectoration greenish, yellow, or even sometimes like 
tails of wool, chewed, appearing when viewed iu water, like 

13 



290 ?HE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 

jagged round balls. Hemorrhage, or bleeding from the lungs, 
is liable to come on, and the difficulty of breathing is very 
great. The patient can scarcely lie down ; m;iny times he 
must be kept with his head bolstered up in a chair, or in his 
bed, when sleep is desired. Sometimes the voice is reduced 
to a mere whisper, while in others it remains quite strong to 
the last. The perspiration, or night sweats are very copious 
and very exhaustive of the vitality of the organism. The 
ulcers, or tubercles in the lungs increase, causing large excava- 
tions, from which issue copious expectorations, sapping and 
undermining the foundation of the entire system. 

The most unpracticed eye can now at once detect the 
ravages of this disease in the altered appearance of the whole 
frame. The body is reduced to a mere skeleton, the eyes are 
sunken ; cheek-bones prominent, with sunken cheeks ; the head 
bends forward ; the chest is wasted ; and the breathing 
becomes distressingly piinful. The .mental faculties too, 
generally become impaired; yet a gracious God amid all this 
suffering, frequently permits the faculties to remain intact, until 
the last ember burns out. 

I will draw a veil over the last agonies of the sufferings of the 
Consumptive patient, as my object is not to portray the horrors 
of dissolution, but to aid, so far as I can, in ameliorating this 
sad condition of the invalid, at lease ; if not always positively 
restoring him to good health, by means of the specific medi- 
cine which I have so successfully prepared for every shade and 
variety of Consumption or Tubercular Phthisis. 

There i3 not a single symptom of Consumption that the 
Acacian Balsam (with proper hygienic adjuncts) do not take 
hold of and dissipate. Encouragement is given without 
delay, and there is no fear that anybody who commences to 
take it, and observes the accompanying directions will feel the 
slightest shade of doubt or disappointment with regard 
to it. 

The object to be attained, is to cleanse the system of all 
impurities, to nourish and strengthen the vital organs y which 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 291 

liave become impaired and enfeebled by disease, to renew 
and invigorate the circulation of the blood, and strengthen 
the nervous organization. The Acacian Balsam does this to 
an astonishing degree, being (unlike any other medicine now 
before the public,) a healthful iuvigorator of the system, with- 
out any re-action after the first effects have passed away. It 
is eminently adapted to soothe and allay irritation of the 
throat and bronchial organs, caused by severe colds ; it 
promotes a healthful appet.te, and assists digestion , is active, 
but mild and congenial, imparting functional energy and 
natural strength to every organ of the body. 

As many people ask what are the exact properties or ingre- 
dients of the Acacian Balsam, I here give the names of the 
more important of the plants of which it is composed, and refer 
the patient to the description of them and a great many other 
Plants, for a knowledge of their medical virtues, in auother 
portion of this volume. 

The principal ingredients which compose the Acacun Bal- 
sam, are Ayapana, (a species of Eupatoriura or Lungwort, 
only found gi owing in Paraguay, Sout'i America) ; the Nicaya 
(which grows near Medingo, Matte-Gross, Brazil, a sort of 
natural confection, much used by the naiives for Pulmonary 
affections,) Throalwort, which all know is excellent for Bron- 
chitis ; Dropwort, or Filapendula ; Pocalima or Fleawort, 
admirable for Dyspnoea or shortness of breath ; St. John's- 
wort, St. Peters-wort, St. James' -wort, MotJcerwort, the 
Arabian Master-wort, a wonderful medicine for morbid 
inflamations, difficulty, or clogging of the respiratory tubes ; 
the Saracen J s wort, much esteemed iu Germany; Austria, 
Bavaria, etc., in pulmonary affections — a peculiar Lung wort, 
or species of Iceland Moss, which, containing mucilaginous 
matter, is wonderfully soothing for irritated or ulcerated lungs. 

Hence, here is the grand combination of plants, with certain 
gums and mucilages, which compose my preparation of 
Acacian Balsam, whose remarkable virtues may be summed up 
as follows : 



292 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST, 

It is a superior exhilnrant. 

It purifies all the fluids and secretions in the shortest reason- 
able period. 

It nourishes the patient who is too much reduced to partike 
of ordinary food. It will supply the place of food for a month 
at a time. 

It strengthens, braces, and vitalizes the brain. 

It heals all internal sores, tubercles, ulcers, and inflammations. 

It stimulates, but is not followed bv re-action. 

It at once obviates emaciation, building up wasted flesh 
and muscle, as the rain vivifies and enhances the growth of 
the grass. 

It is without a rival as a tonic, and it immediately supplies 
electricity or magnetic force, (as if it were a battery) to every 
part of the enfeebled and prostrate body. 

It affords oxygen to vitalize the blood, and nitrogen to 
assimilate the matter, and distributes the necessary elements 
to all the t ssues of the body ; equalizes the " nervous infia* 
ence" and cms s all the organs of the system to work in 
perfect harmony together, giving the fullest health possible to 
be enjoyed by the human species. 

In short, it dissipates night-sweits, peevishness, irritation of 
the nerves, failure of memory, difficulty of expectoration, sharp 
pain in the lungs, colloquative or chronic diarrhoea, dyspnoea, 
or shortness of breath, and cures the most inveterate cases 
of Consumption, no matter of how long standing, with the 
most miraculous celerity or shortness of time. One trial of 
this superior preparation will convince the most sceptical as to 
its extraordinary virtues as a remedial agent in Consumption 
and all other diseases of the respiratory organs. 

It is to be hoped that all those who suffer, or have reason 
to believe that they are predisposed to suffer from any of the 
maladies here mentioned — will not allow this opportunity of 
restoring or preserving their health and happiness to pass 
by unheeded. The Acacian Balsam is prepared with great 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 293 

care expressly by myself, and it will cure the most hopeless 
invalids, if given with care and properly persevered in. 

It must be understood, however, that, notwithstanding the 
Acaciax Balsam is a great renovating agent in itself, yet 
if there be costiveness, or constipation of the bowels, the 
Renovating Pill must also be used in connection wiih it, and 
likewise, so must be used the Etherial Ointment when the 
patient is troubled with pleuritic pains, tightness of the chest, 
soreness of the pectoral or other muscles, of the breast, back, 
and sides, or the region of the heart and liver. A full descrip- 
tion of my prepared remedies will be found further onward. 

As a few bottles always make a marked improvement, there 
is no fear that you will discontinue its use until you are restored 
to perfect health. All of my medicines sire sent to any part 
of the United States and C madas, securely packed in wooden 
boxes, accompauied with full directions for use, on the receipt 
of price. 

The Balaam is an infallible cure for Asthma in all its stages, 
one half bottle giving relief of such a character that the sulL-rer 
before most hopeless will persevere in its use until perfectly and 
permanently cured. It has cured cases which were considered 
beyond the reach of mortal power even to palliate. T.ie Bil- 
sam should also at once be resorted to for the speedy and pleas- 
ant cure of all Colds and Coughs, ^ which are bu pre. -ursors of 
very dreadful mdadies), and it should likewise be administered 
to all persons who wish to be rid of Bronchitis in any of its 
forms. The Balsam will avert confirmed consumption by ob- 
literating in a short time all traces of coughs, colds and bron- 
chitis. Full directions for taking the "Acaciau Balsam," will 
be found upon each bottle. 

One bottle of Acacian Balsam $1 ; six bottles, $5; twelve 
bottles, $9. Sent to any part of the United States by Express, 
upon receipt of cash order. Call upon or address .Dr. 0. Phelps 
Brown, No. ID Grand Street, Jersey City, 2jL J. (Luudou 
Office, No. 4 King S tree I, Coveut Garden.) 



294 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

THE RENOVATING PILL. 



A purely Vegetable Concentration for keeping the bowels in 

natural motion, and cleansing the system of all 

impurities^ a cure for costive?iess t and a general 

blood purifier. 



This Pill is composed of a variety of Herbs that have no 
equal in cleansing the bowels of all impurities, and keeping 
them in a healthy and vigorous action and condition. One of 
these ingredients is a valuable imported root, which added to 
water, and shaken, will produce a foam resembling that of 
pure Castile Soap, which, while it has a powerful purifying effect 
on the bowels, causes no irritation or pain, but soothes and 
heals every thing as it passes. It is more convenient to 
carry about, and more agreeable to take, than a potion. — 
Ifc will regulate the bowels when all other preparations 
fail. It will, in a very short time, eradicate what is termed 
chronic costiveness or constipation, and it will cure, «s surely as 
there is a sun that shines upon us, all the sufferings and 
annoyances that have had their rise in want of proper stoois. 
It should also be distinctly understood that the|f Renovating 
Pill is not to open or move the bowels merely. It must 
be used in all cases of Diarrhcea, Dysentery, Colic, Bil- 
ious Overflows, leading to violent purging, etc., all of 
which afflictions it will gently, s ifely, and surely remedy. The 
greatest feature among the many valualb characteristics of this 
wonderful Pill, is the quiet and easy method by which it 
works its miraculous changes in the suffering human sys- 
tem. It is not one of those remedies that make people 
sick, in order that they may partially get well. From the 
moment it commences its searching and purifying, but al- 
most imperceptible operations, until you feel the same 
healthful promptings and impulses that auimated you before 
sickness ot any sort had lain its touch upon you, it iin- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 295 

)nrts a sense of relief, a feeling; of contentment, and a 

buoyant energy and activity, worth thousands of dollars to 

those who would live for unalloyed enjoyment. Cieausing, 

bracing, rejuvenating the sources from whence emanate 

the best of health — setting both the physical and mental 

hoxise in order — how can illness of any character prevail 

where this pill is used ? It has been used in the severest 

cases of typhoid fever — it has been given among the 

Asiatics, in the most terrible cases of black vomit, (ten times 

more malignant than our yellow fever) — it has been prescribed 

in small-pox even, and, in no one of such cases — they are 

countless — has a patient been lost. 

If the spring is foul, the rivulet will be impure. If you 
place a log across a railway, travel thereon will be impeded. 
If rubbish be thrown into the machinery of a steam-engine, 
it will no longer work properly, but must stop or be broken in- 
to fragments. If an atom finds its way into the inside of a 
watch, it must be taken out, or the watch will no longer ac- 
complish its duties. The human system is more delicate in its 
complications, its manifold springs and currents, than the most 
exquisite piece of machinery ever invented by mortal. Like 
the watch, it may be deranged by almost impalpable minu iae 
Any person of common sense must know that he cannot possi- 
bly have good health when his bowels are constipated or 
clogged up with the various acrid, biliary or morbid secretions 
of the general system, any more than that any other machinery 
can work regularly when it is clogged up as above illustrated. 

Soldiers, saiLrs and travelers generally, will find in these 
Pills an article which can be conveniently carried in 
the smallest possible space, and which will preserve the 
system from all diseases produced by change of climate, watkr, 
air, and diet. 

Females are requested, if they would escape years of suffering, 
if they would preserve youthful beauy and youthful energies, to 
use this pill systematically — to keep it always on hand, ready 
for any emergency. Its constant regulating influences will pre- 



296 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

vent, as well as cure, the numerous ailments to which women 
are specially subjected. 

It is necessary that every man. woman and child, to be in 
perfect health, should have a natural passage of the bowels 
once in every twenty -four hours. Those who do not have this, 
or who have a passage oftener, must be, or will soon get- to be 
unwell. The Renovating Pill will secure you this daily pas- 
sage. Indeed, everybody who does not have this daily passage, 
is sick, although they may not be "down" to their beds. 

This pill is not designed for the exclusive use of the costive, 
or those p rsecuted by too copious evacuations. It is offered 
as a blessing to all individuals who wish to keep their bowels 
regular. By taking it as a matter of custom, the motion of 
the bowels may be perpetually kept in a natural condition of 
good health. It does not act as a merely temporary affair ; it 
keeps the human system in a state of sound and vigorous 
health, by easily and almost imperceptibly cleansing it of all 
impurities. Indeed, it is a general purifier of the blood, and 
as such it is offered to those who prize a blooming complexion, 
bright eyes, strong nerves, tough and servheable muscles, 
pure blood, buoyant spirits, sound and refreshing slumbers, 
and all other items that go to make one's life a joy inste;id 
of a burden. Ask or send for Dr. O. Phelps Brown's Reno- 
vating Pill. Full directions for using will accompany them ; 
each box contains about sixty pills. Single box, post free. 
Price 50 cents per box ; three do., when sent by Express, 
$1 37 ; six, $2.50 ; twelve, $5. All orders must be addressed to 
Dr. 0. Phelps Brown, No. 19 Grand street, Jersey City, N. J. 

DIRECTIONS. 

D 0SE — From one to four, according to the condition of the 
patient. For children, one pill is sufficient. The most conven- 
ient time for taking these pills is at night, before retiring, and 
they may be taken through the day, an hour before eating, 
should circumstances require it. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 297 

THE ETHEREAL OINTMENT. 



A Vegetable Preparation for the Permanent Cure of Deep- 
seated Ulcers, Tumors. Pleurisy, Quinsy, Swellings, 
Sore Throat, Pains in the Chest, Heart Palpita- 
tions, Rheumatism, Neuralgia, etc. 



In t the remedy which is here offered to the public under the 
name of "The Ethereal Ointment," I am actuated by the mo- 
tive of doin^ to others, what, uuder similar circumstances, they 
would do for me. Health is the object sought for by the inva- 
lid, and who can render a greater blessing to the sufferer, than 
by pointing him to remedies that will surely make him well. 
How important it is to be judicious iu selecting the medicine 
that will accomplish this desired end. 

"The Etherial Ointment," is a " Pain Eradicafor" in 
the most ex ensive sense of that phrase. It does not banish 
pain by producing another irritation, or by benumbing the 
parts to which it is applied ; but by removing the cause of the 
torture, and restoring the ; ffl cted portions to their pristine 
condition of grood health. Its ingredients embrace subtle her- 
bal powers, the precise nature of which it would require a large 
volume to explain. S ffice it to say, that where there is bodily 
pain, or a soreness, or inflammation, there is disorganization of 
the tissues. The flesh is no longer in a natural state. Chemically, 
it has lost something necessary to its healthful existence, or is 
suffering from the invasion of some foreign and corrupt m »tter. 
The Ethereal Ointment is so compounded that it immediately 
supplies what is wanting, and also with the greatest precision, 
certainty, aud celerity, expels, absorbs, destroys, and banishes 
all corrupt and morbid humors, discharges, gatherings, sores, 
inflammations, etc. In snort it acts chemically upon the parts, 
and by giving what is lacking, aud neutralizing that which is 

superfluous and destructive, makes the flesh as it was when in 

13* 



298 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

its original condition of soundness. Applied over the spot 
where internal soreness or pain exists, its properties exert a 
magical change. Its unparalleled power of penetration enables 
it 10 reach the remotest spot in a few minutes. For instance, 
it is a grand aid in the cure of Consumption. Rubbed, accor- 
ding to the directions, upon the chest, it withdraws and absorbs 
the tuberculous matter from the lungs as if by a charm, and as 
it withdraws and absorbs these, or any other corrupt and poi- 
sonous deposits, it soothes and permanently heals. Applied 
directly to the stomach, it is a grand circulator of the blood and 
secretions, for which object it should always be used in connec- 
tion with my Renovating Pills, which is the great purifier. 
Their mode of action is separate and distinct, yet their opera- 
tions are in harmony with the great laws of nature, in promoting 
the expulsion of impurities through the capillaries, or pores of 
the skin. The Ointment eliminates all poisonous humors 
from the system, by drawing them to the surface, and 
in many cases where the stomach is too enfeebled to bear inter- 
nal medicines, has proved powerful to cure where all other means 
were unavailing. Every form of disease is necessarily attend- 
ed by impurity of the blood, and attention should be paid to its 
restoration to a healthy condition through the use of the Ethe- 
real Ointment and Renovating Pills. Among the many afflic- 
tions for which as a remedy they have no equal are Rheuma- 
tism in all its varied and distressing forms, pains in the hips 
and knee joints, Lumbago, or pains in the lower part of the 
back, Scrofulous Eruptions, Skin Diseases of every form, Cramps, 
Glandular Swellings, Ulcers and Tumors, White Swelling, Croup, 
Pleurisy, Quinsey, Bruises, Chilblains, Cuts, Corns, Sprains, 
Burns, Scalds, Sore Lips, Sore Nipples, Neuralgia, Heart Pal- 
pitations, and all other Heart Affections,. Blotches, Boils, 
Worms, Scald head, Mumps, Salt Rheum, Mercurial Sores, 
Fever Sores, Piles, Fistula, Spinal Affections, etc. 

Soldiers will find this Ointment to be a most speedy cure for 
wounds, cuts, bruises, rheumatism, soreness or tenderness of the 
feet, etc., with the advantage of being easily applied, and con- 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 199 

venient to carry on the march. It can be sent, (as also the 
Reno v .ting Pill,) by mail, pre-paid, to any part of the 
country. 

The Ethereal Ointment is used in their practice by the best 
physicians in the world. Its praises are daily to be heard from 
those who have tested its great and manifold virtues. 

Sent free by post, at 50 cents p.T single pot. When or- 
dered by express, three do., $1.37; six do., $2.50; twelve, 
$5. All orders must be addressed to Dr. 0. Phelps 
Brown, No. 19 Grand street, Jersey City, N. J. 

DIRECTIONS. 

How to Apply the Ointment —Spread it evenly and thinly 
on soft oil-cloth, oiled silk, or linen of sufficient size to cover 
both the wound and the surrounding inflammation. If oiled silk 
or linen are not at hand, it may be spread on a piece of clean 
silk, linen or cotton cloth. A fresh dressing of the Ointment 
should in all ordinary cases be applied every twenty-four hours. 
Do not bandage tightly, and be sure to dress the affected 
parts regularly. 

Burns, Ulcers and Tumors. — If the discharge in these cases 
be free and copious, it would be well to apply fresh Ointment 
night and morniug. After the ulcer or sore begins to show 
indications of healing, a new dressing once every two days 
will be sufficient — cleansing the sore every twenty-four hours. 

Scald Head. — Cut the hair as short as possible, and rub the 
Ointment on sparingly with the finger ; then draw on the cap 
made of oiled silk or oil cloth. 

For Old Sore Legs — And all corrupt sores of long standing, 
and especially if the parts are much inflamed, the further the 
Ointment extends around the seat of the disease and the 
inflamed part, the better. 

Ulcers and Tumors of a Scrofulous Character — Will some- 
times need the application of the Ointment for months, perhaps, 
before a thorough cleansing and cure can be made ; therefore, 
patience and perseverance, with great regularity in the dressing, 



300 THE COMPLETE HEEBALTST. 

is required — and some attention paid to diet will prevent the 
system from becoming too gross. In these eases my Pills 
should always be used in connection, to pur fy the blood. 

In early stages of Inflammatory Rheumatism or Soreness 
about the Breast, caused by cold or cholic, this Ointment has 
no equal, and will be found soothing, and yet so stimulating, 
that in the course of a few hours a gentle perspiration is pro- 
duced, relieving the patient of all pain and soreness. For this 
soreness about the Breast, apply a plaster large enough to cover 
the whole chest. 

For Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Sore Throat, Pains in the 
Chest and Lungs, Croup in Children, which it never foils to 
relieve immediately, if applied, to the throat and chest ; Cramps 
and Pains in the Stomach, etc. — Apply with the bare hand to 
the parts affected. The Ointment must be well rubbed in 
with gentle friction for fivj or ten minutes at each application. 



jg®** Should any person, after having become convinced 
that my medicines are really valuable, be disposed to act as my 
agent, I should be pleased to have him address me on the 
subject. I will furnish him with a goodly supply of pamphlets 
to distribute in his locality, also the medicines on the most rea- 
sonable terms. 

I®* No charge will he made for advice — all arc 
invited to call. All letters must be addressed to 

Dr. O PHELPS BROWN, 
No. 19 Grand-st, Jersey City, N. J. 

JB@* Special Notice !— All persons sending money for 
mediciues to the amount of $20 and upwards, are requested to 
send, if possible, by Draft or Check, payable to ury order in 
New- York, or by Express, pre-paid. 



THE COMPLETE HERBALIST* 301 

PLANTS. 



THEIR COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION. 

A physician who would cure disease, or seek to assist nature 
to throw off all morbid accumulations from the body, should 
have a single eye to the perfection, purity, or quality of the 
remedial agents he may feel called upon to employ. Plants 
should be gathered at a proper period, and under correct 
planetary influences, and always choseu from those iu a wild or 
uncultivated state. 

The roots of an annual plant will yield their most active 
medical properties just before the flowering season, whereas this 
class of roots are erroneously gathered after the flowering sea- 
son: in consequence, they are less active, and do not retain their 
qualities for any reliable time. The roots of the biennial 
plants are most energetic if gathered when the leaves have 
fallen from the plant, in the autumn of the fird year ; while 
the roots of perennial plants are most active wheu gathered 
between the decay of the flowers and leaves and ihe renewal of 
verdure of the following Spring. Bulbs are to be collected as 
soon as matured, or soon after the loss of foliage, in order to 
secure their most active principles. 

Herbaceous stems should be collected after the foliage, but 
before the blossoms have developed themselves, while ligneous 
or woody stems should be collected after the decay of the 
leaves and previous to the vegetation of the preceeding Spiing. 

Barks are to be gathered in the Spring previous to flowering, 
or in Autumn after the foliage has disappeared. Spring is the 
best time to gather resiuous barks, and autumn for the others. 

Leaves are best when gathered between the period of flow- 
ering and maturation of the fruit or seeds. Biennial plauts, 
however, do not perfect themselves the first year, consequently, 
their leaves should be gathered only duriug the second year of 
the growth of the plant. 



302 THE COMPLETE HERBALIST. 

Flowers are to be collected when about to open, or immedi* 
ately after they have expanded, although I prefer the buds. 
Flowers, buds, and leaves are to be gathered in dry weather, 
after the dew is off of them, or in the evening before it falls, 
and freed from all impurities. Aromatics should bz collected 
after the flower-buds are formed, while stalks and twigs are 
best if gathered soon after the decay of the flowers. Berries, 
succulent fruits and seeds, are to be collected only when ripe, 
except in some few cases where the medical virtue is contained 
in the unripe article. Roots ate to be well washed, rejecting 
all worm-eaten or decayed portions. Bulbs are cleaned and 
dried as roots. B irks, stems, twigs, and woods are best dried 
in a moderate sun-heat, and should be taken every night into 
a well ventilated room, where the dew or rain will not touch 
them, and laid upon sticks, slats, or boards which are some few 
inches apart, so that the air may be well circulated through. 
The best method of drying leaves is to strip them from the 
stem, lay them loosely upon a flooring where the sun shines 
moderately and the air circulates sufficiently to avoid mould — 
keep them well stirred. The custom of steaming or moistening 
leaves in order to pack them more solidly after having been 
dried, is exceedingly improper, as the articles become thereby 
much deteriorated in quality and soon get musty. 

Seeds are dried in the same manner as stems and leaves. 
Aromatic herbs and annual plants are dried as advised for leaves 
similarly prepared. 



INDEX. 



A Brief History of Medicine 3 

Alchemic Art 7 

Acacia.. • 27 

Adder's Tongue 27 

Agrimony... 28 

Alder 29 

Ale-Hoof 30 

Alexander, } „ 

Alisander, ) " " 

Alkanet 31 

All Heal 31 

Almonds 32 

Amara Dulcis 33 

Amaranth 34 

Anemone • 35 

Angelica 35 

Aniseed 36 

Archangel 37 

A sarabacco 37 

Adder's Violet 109 

Aya-Pana 38 

Avens (white) • 57 

" (purple) 57 

Alum Root 79 

Alder (spotted) 82 

Apple (May) 103 

Adder's Flower 109 

Asclepias. 123 

Ash (bitter) 126 

Ague Root 144 

Apple Fern 154 

Absin thine 161 

Anti-bilious Pill. 166 

Acetic Blood Root Syrup 169 

Aromatic Bitters 173 

Anti-Spasmodics 174, 175 

Anti-Dysentery Cordial 176 

Acidity of the Stomach 177 

Antidote for Rattlesnake Poison 180 

Acute Erysipelas 186 



Acute Scarlatina 189 

Apple Jelly 187 

Arrow Root Jelly 187 

Apple Pudding (boiled). 192 

Air and Sunshine 228 

Apoplexy 267 

Acacian Balsam 285 

Amaurosis 277 

Black Pot Herb 31 

Bitter Sweet 33 

Balm 39 

Balmony 39 

Barberry... 41 

Bead Tree 42 

Beets 43 

11 White 43 

" Red 43 

Betony (wood) 43 

" (water) 44 

BeethRoot 45 

Birth Root 45 

Bird's Foot 46 

Bishop's Weed 46 

Bull-Wort 46 

Bitter Root 46 

Blackberry 47 

" Low 47 

Black Snake Root. 48 

Black Cohosh 48 

Blazing Star 49 

Button Snake Root 49 

Boneset 50 

Burdock 51 

Burnet 51 

Bed-Straw 57 

Bull's Foot 61 

Butter Cup 66 

Brake Root 74 

Bird's Nest 88 



304 



INDEX. 



Beaver Tree • 102 

Burgundy Pitch , Ill 

Blue Cohosh .116 

Butterfly Weed 123 

Bitter-Wood 126 

Bear's Bed 135 

Black Walnut 159 

Butternut 159 

Bronchitis. 167, 285 

Bronchial Troches 172 

Blues, or Low Spirits 177 

Bruises (For) 180 

Bleeding at the nose 182 

Boils .184 

Baldness, (cure for) 184 

Black Currant Preserves 188 

Berries 188 

Bread Pudding I 189 

Brown Bread Biscuit 190 

Bread and Milk. 190 

Buttermilk Pap .190 

Beef Liquid 191 

Barley Water 191 

Batter Pudding 192 

Bathing .227 

Bilious Remittent Fever 262 

Bilious Colic 286 

Breast Pang 277 

Bright's Disease of the Kidneys ... .271 

Cockleburr 28 

Cat's Foot 30 

Cock's Comb (Red) 34 

Cummin Royal 46 

Cimicif Jga 49 

Calamus 51 

Celandine ...... 53 

Centaury 54 

Cinque Foil 55 

Chamomile 56 

Chickweed 56 

Chocolate Root 57 

Cleavers . . 57 

Coca 59 

Colts Foot 61 

Cough-Wort 61 

Comfrey 61 

Costmary . 62 

Cowslips 63 



Cranberry (High)...*..... 63 

(Low) 63 

Cramp Bark 64 

Crawley 64 

Coral Root 64 

Crowfoot 65 

Carpenter's Square 76 

Cranesbill 79 

Convulsion Root 89 

Calico Bush < . . . 95 

Cool Weed 108 

China Orange 116 

Clover (Winter) 117 

Coakum 124 

Colic Root .144 

Crow Corn 144 

Cassava Starch. 154 

Cough Preparation 170 

Chronic disease of the Mucus Sur- 
faces 170 

Cough Mixture 175 

Cough Syrup .176 

Chilblain Ointment 177 

Cataplasms 178 

Cancer (For) 183 

Cholera (Injection for) 1 81 

" Asiatic (to remove) 271 

Corns 181 

Chalk Mixture.. 183 

Cooling the Blood (For) 184 

Carbuncles (For) .181 

Cream Custard 187 

Cakes 189 

Cup Cake .189 

Coffee Milk 190 

Chicken Broth 190 

Cranberry Water 191 

Chicken Pie 193 

Codfish 193 

Calf s Brains .194 

Clothing 2C8 

Costiveness (Testimonial) ......... .242 

Cure of Consumption ..240, 243, 247 249 

Cure of Croup 244 263 

Catarrh in the Head 25 J 

Congestive Fever 262 

Carbuncle .269 

Cholera Morbus (Symptoms) . . .277, 278 
Consumption (Full description) 285, 293 



INDEX, 



305 



Chilblains (Symptoms) 273 

Dog Tooth Violet 27 

Dewberry 47 

Dragon's Claw. 64 

Daisy (Ox eye) 66 

Dandelion 67 

Drooping Star Wort 67 

Devil's Bit 67 

Dock (Common) 68 

" (Yellow) 68 

Dragon Root 69 

Dragon's Test 69 

Dropwort 70 

Dove's Foot 79 

Dwarf Nettle 108 

Deer Berry 117 

Discutient Ointment 175 

Diarrhea (For) 176, 183, 294 

Diptheria (For) 181 

■ ' (Symptoms) 264 

Decayed Teeth (For) 182 

Drcpsy (Palliative For) 182, 186 

" (Banished) 246 

Diabetes (For) 185 

Decoction of Bran 189 

Drop Cake 192 

Dyspepsia Conquered 24L 244 

(Description of; 283 

Dysentery (Symptoms of; 266 

Egyptian Thorn 27 

Enchusa 31 

Eupatorium £8 

Ethiopian Cummin Seed 46 

Elder 70 

Eryngo 72 

Eyebright 73 

Expectorant 166 

Eggs 194 

Exercise 213 

Ephemera 265 

Enlargement of the Air Cells 270 

Epilepsy or Falling Sickness (Des- 
cription of) 279 

Flora's Time Piece . 14 

Foreign and Native Plants 27 

Felon Wort 33 

Flower Gentle... 34 



Flower Velure 34 

Floramor :>4 

Five Finger Grass 55 

Foal's Foot 61 

False Unicorn Root 67 

Fern (Royal Flowering) 73 

'* (Cinnamon Colored) 74 

" (Common Polypody) 71 

" (Sweet) 75 

Fever Few . . * , . . . 75 

Fig Wort 76 

Flea Wort 75 

Frost Weed 77 

Frost Plant 77 

Five Flowered Gentian 79 

Fit Plant 68 

Five Leaves Ivy 90 

False Graps 90 

False Valerian 97 

Female Regulator 97 

Fringe Tree 114 

Fever and Ague (For) 168 

Fragrant Breath (To produce) 178 

Foot Bath 179 

Felons and Tumors (For; 184 

French Milk Porridge 190 

Fish Chowder 193 

Food and Drinks 195 

Fits (Cure of) 241, 242, 244, 245 

Fits Symptoms and Remedy of; . . .279 

Galen , 8 

Gum Arabic 27 

Ground Ivy 80 

Gill-creep-by-ground 30 

Gill-go-by-ground 30 

Ground Lily 45 

Gay Feather 49 

Gooso Grass 57 

Galium Tinctorium 58 

Gentian 78 

(Blue) 78 

" (Five Flowered) 79 

(Marsh) 79 

Gall Weed 79 

Geranium 79 

(Spotted 79 

Ground Raspberry 81 

Golden Senecio 79 



306 



INDEX. 



Gombo • 113 

Garget Ill 

Gravel Root 127 

Ground Squirrel Pea 133 

Ground Moss 135 

Great Wild Valerian 152 

Golden Tincture 165 

Gargles.... 175, 176 

Gargle for the Uvula 181 

" in Scarlet Fever 183 

Gravel (For,) 185 

" ("Treatment of; 248 

Gout (Remedy for; 260 

Hippocrates 7 

Heart-like-t'orraed Plants 16 

Herbal Medication (in full, and illus- 
trated by engravings; 10 

Haynaids • 30 

Horse Parsely 31 

Hercules Wound-Wort 31 

Herb William 46 

Horse-Hoof 61 

Heal-all 76 

Hellebore (American; 84 

11 (Swamp; 84 

Hoarhound 85 

Hops 86 

Hop Hornbeam 97 

Horse Fly Weed 131 

Hair Cap Moss 135 

Hard Dry Cough (For; 174 

Honey Balsam. 176 

Hemorrhoids (For; 177 

Headache (For; 179 

Hip Disease (For; 180 

Hydrophobia (For; 186 

Hectic Fever (Symptoms; .263 

Hysterics ( Symptoms; ............ .267 

Hemorrhage of the Bowels (Symp- 
toms) 270 

Heart Burn (Symptoms; 270 

Heart Palpitations (Cure for; 297 

Isis Queen of Egypt 4 

Indian Balm 45 

Indian Turnip 69 

Icelann Moss 88 

Indian Poke 84 



Itch Weed 8t 

Ice Plant 68 

Indian Pipe Plant 88 

Iron Weed 89 

Ivy (American; SO 

Ivy (Wild; 95 

Iron Wood 97 

Indian Tobacco 99 

Indian Cup Plant 130 

Ice Vine . .• 156 

Injection 177 

11 (For Costiveness; 173 

1 1 (For Asiatic Cholera; 181 

Intermittent and Remittent Fevers 

<For) 183 

Irish Moss Jelly 187 

Infantile Spasms (Cure of; 244 

Irregularity of the Bowels f Cure of; .245 
Inflammatory Fever (Symptoms) . . .263 
Inflammation of the Brain (Symp- 
toms) 265 

Infantile Sore Mouth i Symptoms) . . .265 
Inflammation of Ear (Symptoms) 266 
" Stomach " 266 

" " Small Intestines" 266 

" "Liver " 266 

" " Kidnej'S " 267 

" " Bladder " 267 

11 Eye (Acute) 275 

Incontinence of Urine (Symptoms). .269 

Itch ( Symptoms) 269 

Indigestion 279 

Influence of Climate and Planets over 
Plants 27 

Jack-in -the-Pulpit • 69 

Jessamine (Yellow) 91 

(Wild) 91 

Juniper 91 

Joe Fire. 127 

Jamestown Weed 154 

Jaundice (Symptoms) 268 

Kernels .' Z% 

Kidney Liver Leaf 92 

Linaeus 14 

Liver-Wort (Illustrated) 17 

Liver (Treatment of Diseases of). . . .279 



INDEX, 



307 



Lovely Blading. »•• 34 

Lung- Wort (Species of) £8 

Lamb's Quarter 45 

Lupulin £7 

Lupulito 87 

Ladies' Slipper 92 

Larch 93 

Larg-e Flowering Spurge 93 

Larkspur 94 

Laurel (Sheep) 95 

Laurel Mountain) 95 

Lambkill.. 95 

Lavender. 95 

Lemon £6 

Lettuce • • 96 

Opium 96 

Lever Wood 97 

Life Root S7 

Lily Root (Meadow) 98 

Lion's Foot 99 

Lobelia 99 

Lung-Wort ICO 

Liver Cordial. .166 

Lavender Compound Spirits of). . . .168 

Liniment For Chilblains) 170 

" (For Neuralgia x 171 

Long Round Worm (For) 176 

Low Spirits (For) 177 

Locked Jaw (For) 185 

Leucorrhcea (Cases of 251 to 235 

Lungs 285 to 3 

Mahomet 7 

Mortal 233 

Manna-Ash 22 

Merinspernum 47 

Macrotin 48 

Mouthwool 82 

Mountain Laurel 95 

Meadow Lily Root 98 

Madder 101 

Mad Dog Weed .101 

Maidenhair. 102 

Magnolia 102 

M -Sweet) 102 

Mallow Common 1 . 103 

" (High) 103 

Mandrake ••*• 1C3 

" (Wild) 103 



May Apple 1C3 

Man-in-the-Ground 104 

Man-cf-the-Earth 104 

Mechameck 1C4 

Monkshood 1C4 

Moss (Corsican) 105 

Mother-Wort 105 

Mullien 106 

Myrhh (Tree) It7 

11 (Gum) 1C7 

Meadow Cabbage 140 

Mandioca 154 

Mil Foil 162 

Mustard Poultices 179 

Menstruation (Painful, for) 172 

Medicated Wine 1S1 

Muscular Pains (For) 184 

Milk Biscuit 195 

Mental Development. 213 

Magic Assimilant made from Recipe 

(effects of) 245 

Measles (Symptoms) 268 

Milk Sickress 268 

Mumps (Symptoms).... 276 

Magic Assdiilant 279 

Mismenstruation (cure for) 279 

Maturation of the Lungs 289 

Mercurial Sores 218 

Nature (Mysteries of) 25 

Noah's Ark 92 

Nerve Root 92 

Narrow Leaf Virginia Thyme 107 

Nettle (Common) 108 

(Dwarf) 108 

11 (Stingless) 1C8 

" (Stinging) If 8 

Net Leaf Plaintain 109 

Nightshade (Garden) . . .'. 110 

(Deadly) 110 

Norway Pine 110 

Nutmeg HI 

Nux Vomica 112 

Nerve Root 141 

Noah's Ark .141 

Nose Bleed 162 

Nervous Headache (For) 167 

Nerve Tonic 1C8, 169 

Neuralgia (Liniment for) 171 



303 



INDEX. 



Neuralgia (Mixture for) .173 

I f (Description of Cure) 259 

II (Cure for) ..297 

Neuralgic Pains. 179, 184 

Nervousness (For) 182 

Nursing Sore Mouth (Symptoms)... 265 

Nightmare (Symptoms) 269 

Necrosis, or death of a Bone (SjTnp- 

toms) 272 

Narcotic Poisons (Symptoms) 274 

Nerve Pang .278 

Organic Remedies (Crude) 3 

Orchanet 31 

Opapane Wort 32 

Ox Eye (Daisy) 66 

Ointment (of Witch Hazle) 83 

Ovaova 88 

Oil of Spike 95 

Oak (White) 112 

" (Black) 112 

" (Red) 113 

Old Man's Beard 114 

Old Field Balsam 115 

Onion ...115 

Orange (China). 116 

14 (Seville) L16 

Orange Flower Water 116 

Oat 113 

Oatmeal. 113 

Okra... 113 

Oil of Stillingia 128 

Oil Nut ...156 

Offensive Breath (For) 180 

Ointment for the Itch 181 

Old Ulcers (For) .182 

Orange Whey 191 

Oyster Soup. 194 

Old Age 232 

Obstinate Neuralgia Cured 259 

Ointment (Etherial) 297 

Paracel sus 6to8 

Planetary Influences 10 

Pride of China 42 

Peagles 63 

Pimpinella 51 

Purple A vens 57 



Poke (Indian) 84 

Pipe (Indian). 88 

Pipe Plant 89 

Plantain (Water) 101 

Plantain (Net Leaf) 109 

Pine (Norway). 110 

Pitch (Burgundy) Ill 

Parsley ^ 117 

Partridge Berry 117 

Peach 118 

Pearl flowered Life Everlasting. ...119 

Pennyroyal 120 

Peony 121 

Peruvian Balsam 122 

Pilewort 123 

Pleurisy Root. 123 

Poke 124 

Pomegranate 125 

Privet 125 

Prussic Acid 132 

Palm (Sago) ..3c8 

Polecat Weed 140 

Pepper (Water) v 142 

Poplar (Siberian). 148 

Ptelia .159 

Pulmonary Remedy 165 

Pulmonary Syrup .170 

Pile Ointment. 173 

Poultice (for a Fester) 178 

Perspiration (to Produce) .178 

Paralysis of the Bladder (For) 182 

Palliative for Dropsy 1 82 

Putrid Fever (For) 186 

Pears 188 

Pies 188 

Panado 190 

Pumpkin Bread 190 

Plum Cake 192 

Pudding Sauce 193 

Peas 195 

Physical Development 213 

Proprietary Remedies. , 237 

Peculiar Case of Consumption 247 

Prevalent Diseases , Symptoms) . .262 

Putrid Fever (Symptoms) 263 

Pleurisy 270 

Pulmonary Apoplexy (Symptoms).. 270 
Plague (The) 272 



INDEX, 



309 



Puerperal Convulsions (Symptoms). 274 

Poisons (Symptoms) 274, 275 

Pneumonia Notha (Symptoms) 275 

Painter's Colic (Symptoms) 278 

Permanent Cure oi Consumption. . . .285 

Pi ll (Renovating) 294 

Pains in the Chest and Lungs (Cure 
for) 300 

Quick Silver Quack. 8 

Quassia 126 

" (Lofty) 126 

" (Bitter) 127 

Quinguino 122 

Queen of the Meadow r 127 

Queen's Root 128 

Queen's Delight 1~8 

Quim-e ..-129 

Quinsey (Symptoms) 265 I 

Red Cock's-comb 34 

Red Beet 43 

Rose Pink 54 

Rattlesnake's Master 72 

Royal Flowering Fern 73 

Rock Rose 77 

Raspberry (ground). 81 

Ragwort 97 

Rattlesnake Root £9 

Raccoon Berry 103 

Rattlesnake Leaf 109 

Red Oak Bark 113 

Ruhus Strigosus 131, 132 

Rattlebush 131 

Ragged Cap 130 

Radish (Horse) 129 

Red Root 13 2 

11 (New Jersey) 132 

Rhatany 1:3 

Rheumatism Root 133 

Rhubarb .....134 

44 (Chinese) 135 

(French) 135 

" (English) 135 

Rice ...125 

Robin's Rye 135 

Rosemary 136 

Red Elm 142 



Rheumatic Tincture 167 

Remedy for the Bowel Complaint ..191 

Rheumatism (Chronic) 171 

Rattlesnake Poison (Antidote for) . . .180 

Remittent Fever (for) 183 

Rectum (for falling of the, 185 

Roast Chicken 193 

Regulating the Passions 219 

Remedy for Gout 260 

Rickets 269 

Renovating Pill (the) 294 

Side Saddle Flower 15 

Serpents Tongue 28 

Saponaceous Cream of Almonds .... 33 

Star Anise 36 

Snake Head 40 

Salt Rheum Weed 40, 139 

Squaw Root 48 

Small Cleavers 58 

Spermatorrhea 60 

Squaw Stalk 76 

Sampson Snake Weed 79 

Spotted Geranium 79 

Snapping Hazelnut 82 

Spotted Alder 82 

Swamp Hellebore 84 

Spoonwood 95 

Spike (Oil of) 95 

Squaw Weed 97 

Swamp Sassafras 102 

Sweet Magnolia 102 

Scrofula Weed 1C9 

Sweet Sceuted Life Everlasting . . . .115 

Sweet Balsam 119 

Squawmint 120 

St Peter's Wort 124 

Silver Leaf 128 

Snowball (wild) 132 

Saffron (Dyer's) 137 

11 (Bastard) 137 

Safflower 137 

Sage (Garden) .137 

Sago 138 

" Pearl 138 

" Meal 138 

Sago Palm 1C8 

Saracen's Wort 1CU 

Scull Cap 140 



INDEX. 



310 



ScuH Cap (Blue) 140 

" " Side Flowering 140 

Skunk Cabbage 140 

Symplocarpus 140 

Skunk Weed 140 

Slippery Elm 142 

Smart Weed 142 

Sorrel (Wood) 143 

Star Grass .144 

St John's Wort .144 

Sumach •> ♦ 145 

(Smooth) 145 

Summer Savory 146 1 

Sun Flower 146 

Swamp Beggar's Tick 147 

Sweet Gum 148 

Stinkweed 154 

Stramonium '. 155 

Simpler's Ivy 157 

Swamp Dogwood 159 

Shrubby Trefoil 159 

Sneeze Wort 163 

Sleep (for Producing) 166 

Sick and Nervous Headache (for). . .167 

Sarsaparilla Syrup 167 

Spirits of Lavender (Compound). . . .168 

Strengthening Plaster . ...1C8 

Stomachic Bitters 168 

Sleeplessness 171 

Stomach Pill 172 

Stomachic Pill . . 173 

Spiced Bitters 173 

Skiu Diseases with much Irritation .177 

Sore Throat .177 

Stings 179 

S tomachic 11 9 

Stomach and Bowels 184 

Salt Rheum (for) 185 

Scarlatina (for) 186 

Strawberry Jam 187 

Sippets 191 

Sago Gruel 191 

Sponge Cake 192 

Superior Indian Cake 192 

Soups for the Convalescent .194 

Sleep (Hygienic) 225 

Sunshine (value of) 228 

Scrofula Cured 256 

Symptoms of Prevalent Diseases . . .262 



Simple Continued Fever (symptoms) 263 

Scarlet Fever (symptoms) 263 

Small Pox (symptoms) 263 

St Vitus Dance (symptoms) 267 

Sprain (symptoms) .273 

Speedy Cure of Fits 279 

Speedy Cure of Consumption 285 

Scald Head 299 

Thorn (Egyptian) 27 

Turnhoof 30 

Turtlebloom 40 

Turtlehead 40 

Thorough Wort 50 

Tetter Wort 53 

Tumeric Root 81 

Tickweed. 120 

Tuber Root ..123 

Trumpet Weed 127 

Twin Leaf 133 

Tacamahac 148 

Throat Wort 149 

Tobacco 150 

Tolu 151 

" (Balsam of) ...151 

Tansy 152 

Tapioca 153 

Thistle (Cotton or Woolly) 154 

Thorn Apple 154- 

Thousand Seal 16.2 

Tonic Tincture 167 

Tonic Tea 173 

Tonic for Chlorosis 174 

Tincture for Fever and Ague 174 

Tonic and Cathartic 175 

Toothache (cure for) .178 

Tapeworms (to kill and expel) 182 

Tumors tfor) 184 

Tarts 188 

Toast 188 

Tapioca Pudding .... .189 

Toast Water 191 

Tea Biscuit 194 

Testimonials .240 

The Four Remedies 243 

Typhoid Fever (symptoms) £62 

Umbel 92 

Unicorn Root • 144 



INDEX. 



311 



XHcers (for Old) 182 

1 ' (for Chronic) 185 

Venus Fly Trap (Illustrated) 15 

Violet (Dog Tooth) 28 

Viburnie 64 

Veratrum 85 

Virginia Creeper 90 

Valerian (American) 92 

" (Officinal) 152 

Valerian (False) 97 

Violet { Adders) 109 

Vanilla Aromatica .156 

Velvet Leaf .156 

Vervain (Blue ) 157 

Valuable Herbal Recipes 165 to 186 

Wild Water Mint 16 

Winterberry 29 

Wild Parsley 31 

Woody Nightshade 33 

Wind Flower 35 

White Beet 43 

Wood Betony 43 

Water Betony 44 

Wake Robin 45 

White Avens 57 

Wake F oin 69 

Wild Tansey 70 

Wild Cranebill 79 

Winter Bloom 82 

Woodbine 90, 91 

Wild Wood Vine 90 

Wild Tobacco 29 



White Bay . . . 102 

Wild Lemon 103 

Wild Mandrake 103 

Wild Potatoe 104 

Wolfsbane 104 

White Balsam 115 

Winter Clover 117 

Wild Indigo 131 

Wild Snowball 132 

Water Pepper 142 

Wood Sorrel 143 

Walnut ( White and Black) 159 

Wing Seed 159 

Wormwood 161 

(Sea or Holy) 161 

Wafer Ash 159 

Worm Mixture 172 

Warts and Corns (to Removed 181 

Wash for Sore Mouth 183 

Wafers 188 

Wine Whey 191 

Wonderful Cure of Croup 244 

Whooping Cough (Symptoms) 266 

Wind Colic (Symptoms) 268 

Worms (Symptoms) 269 

Yellow Erythronium 28 

Yellow Puccoon. .. 81 

Yellow Jessamine 91 

Yellow Moccasin Flower 92 

.Yellow Ladies' Slipper 92 

Yaw Root 128 

Yarrow 162 

Youthful Errors (Cure for) 249 



312 THE COMPLETE HERRALIST. 



CONSULTATION BY LETTER. 



Throughout "The Complete Herbalist," I have given all the infor- 
mation possible or allowed by the limits, as to how all diseases, which are 
not complicated, or of too long- standing, may be cured by plants, etc., 
which can be readily obtained everywhere, or by either one or all of my 
four prkparkd RKMKDIES. I have also demonstrated, very clearly, that 
many cases of disease, both in the male and female, can, by special treat- 
ment, or a course of Herbal medicines exclusively adapted to the complaint 
and the individual^ be more speedily, pleasantly, and effectually eradicated, 
than by any other method. Take, for instance, Scrofula, Whites, Gout, 
Gravel, Chronic Rheumatism, Sexual and Nervous Debility, Catarrh, Affec- 
tions of the Ear, Spermatorrhea I, etc., etc. — these, and many other mala lies 
of a nature equally obstinate and distressing, often require particular treat- 
ment from the difference of physical conformation, character, temperament, 
age. an I sex of the individuals in whom they may prevail, and from the 
various lengths of time they may have existed, and the stage at which they 
may have arrived. This particular treatment involves the use of rare foreign 
herbs iih'i plants, which it would give some trouble to procure in their purity 
unless by one who understands their character and makes it his business to 
import them. For this reason, and this only, I make these spec*. .' prepara- 
tions when they are applied for, but not until I am satisfied they are .needed. 
When parties, who think their cases are of such a character as to warran- 
ting extra attention, write to me for advice and medicines, they must inva- 
riably give as concise and clear a history, as is possible, of the origin, 
progress, present aspect, and duration of their afflictions. Each correspond- 
ent must also state, as briefly as may be consistent with the design of writing 
his or her age, complexion, color of hair and eyes, habits and occupations 
and whether married or single. Every time you write, give, in a legible 
hand, the town, county, and state to which a reply is required to be sent, and 
if medicines are ordered, the name of the Express Station ( with the 
name of the Express Company) to which they are to be sent should be 
specified. All communications will be held strictly confidential. 
In order to pay for Consultation Fee, each correspondent upon sending 
the first letter will enclose one dollar. If I can point out remedies which 
my correspondents may themselves procure and prepare without further 
aid, i will be glad to do so ; but if I find it necessary to prepare a special 
Course of medicine, and the patient concludes to accept it, the dollar will be 
deducted from the usual cost of the preparations. Address, 

DR. O. PHELPS BROWN, 
No. 19 Grand-St., Jersey City, N. J. 

3^77-2 



kmUH 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




00025^2771 




